Motorcycles of Escaflowne
by dawnsama
Summary: AU VxH. On the surface, she was only shy Hitomi who hid behind her hair. Her passion for motorcycles wasn't something she let on about but this passion changes everything one fateful night. Rated for language.
1. Enter the EscaXX

**A/N Okay. Here's my new fanfic! *Trumpets blow* I really hope you guys like this, you'd better because I like it so far. I think I'm going to have a lot more fun with his than I did with "Return Forever."******

**This is the revised version by the way, but only revised a little, I may have missed a typo here and there. I uploaded it earlier but that was when ff.net was upgrading so I don't think it showed up.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vision of Escalfowne. I want to own Van or Folken but I don't own them either. Leave me to weep in peace.**

**Motorcycles of Escaflowne**

Hitomi Kanzaki shook aside some of her hair from her face and looked up. 

The teacher sighed in exasperation. "Please, Miss Kanzaki, if you're going to answer a question than speak more clearly." He tapped the board in frustration. "Now what's the answer to this problem?" 

Hitomi blinked and glanced back down at her notes. "Um…4x?" she said softly, voice unintentionally coming out as a squeak. The class sniggered softly. She ignored it, timidly waiting in apprehension for the correct answer. 

"That is correct." 

Sighing in relief, Hitomi leaned her head and forward and allowed her hair to fall back into place, covering her face. It was her customary look in the classroom: a light brown mane of hair creeping down her back falling over her shoulders and hiding her face, just leaving enough room to see and her nose to creep out. 

The people around her either shook their heads or rolled their eyes. Hitomi was so shy that it was overwhelming at times. It was such a waste really, people would say to each other. Hitomi was so pretty underneath that hair. If only her personality… 

Finally the bell rang for lunch. There was stampede of students heading out the door. Hitomi took her time in gathering her things, waiting for the sudden crowd in the hallways to disperse. 

She wasn't the only one who lagged behind. There was Allen Schezar, blonde, the studded hottie senior of the school and the most desirable to have as a boyfriend. He sat on a desk, flirting with his next victim, who wisely took her time in packing her backpack. Rolling her eyes, Hitomi slipped out of the classroom. 

As she walked, Hitomi instinctively shied away from other students walking past her. Blushing furiously when she accidentally brushed someone else's shoulder, she quickly ducked her head down and walked with more purpose outside. She stopped near the school parking lot and sat down at her usual lunch spot. 

Hitomi chose this particular spot for several reasons. One, not many people ate here, thus Hitomi wouldn't have to worry very much about unwanted attention. Second, the grass was comfy here and Hitomi enjoyed relaxing on this beautiful piece of nature. 

"Hey Hitomi. Staring at the motorcycles again?" 

Hitomi started and jerked her head up. Then she smiled in relief and relaxed again. The speaker was her best friend Yukari, nobody to be worried about. Yukari was one of the few people that Hitomi was comfortable and completely at ease around. 

Yukari had also just stated her third reason she sat here for lunch. It was right by the parking lot and in particular the section reserved for motorcycles. Here was the perfect spot for Hitomi to drool over the parked motorcycles without the owners asking her why. Granted, other people ate lunch in the parking lot but they were to distracted by the surrounding vehicles of transportations around them to notice them. 

Ah, motorcycles! Hitomi loved them to bits. She had first ridden a motorcycle behind the back of her aunt when she was ten. It had been so exhilarating to feel the wind blow her hair of her sweating neck, to hear the purr of the engines and rev of the motor. Ah yes, and thrill, the thrill of moving at a break-neck speed and knowing that you were the fastest one on the road. Granted, the experience was slightly degraded by her mother shouting at her aunt to make Hitomi get off but that could easily be ignored. 

Motorcycles represented everything that Hitomi wished she could be. It had qualities that she had and wished she had. Hitomi was on the track team and could have been the fastest on the team had she ever used her full potential. For now, she was considered a mediocre member of team because she couldn't bring herself to run as fast as she could because then the coach and team mates would start paying attention to her more often than she'd like. But the motorcycle was always the fastest one out there, and it comforted Hitomi to know that could have been the fastest one as well. It was also sleek and dangerous, and always made its presence known with its deep low engine purr. Hitomi could never be the center of attention for her life. The thought of all those staring eyes focused completely on her made her freeze up and stiffen. She wished that she could have the same courage as the motorcycle, always fearless nabbing attention wherever it went and riding off proudly. 

But Hitomi was aware of the fact that she could never be that way. So she contented herself by staring at these beauties every lunch and wishing as always. 

"He-llooo? Earth to Hitomi?" Yukari waved a hand in front of Hitomi's face, setting her out of her reverie. 

"Huh, what?" 

"You're zoning out again." Yukari settled herself onto the grass. "Thinking about the MCs again?" she asked dryly. MC was Yukari's nickname for motorcycle that she used whenever she felt too lazy to say out the whole name. 

"Well, yeah," Hitomi admitted sheepishly. 

"'Tomi, you _do _know that you're not a vehicle, right?" Yukari asked. 

"Yes, I know." 

"Good. Just making sure you're not having one of those dreams about being a motorcycle again." 

"Who's dreaming?" a deep masculine voice said behind them. 

Yukari squealed and turned around to snuggle against them the male newcomer. It was Amano, boyfriend of Yukari for one year. He was the brunette version of his twin brother Allen Schezar. Hitomi smiled at him in greeting. It had only been recent that she started to feel comfortable around Amano. She also respected Amano for not following in popular twin brother's footsteps and choosing to hang out with little old them, rather than the more elite students of the school with Allen. 

"So, what's the news?" Amano asked good-naturedly. 

"Hitomi wants to be a MC again," Yukari said teasingly. 

"As always I guess." 

Hitomi laughed softly. "Come on, how can you not love those motorcycles?" 

"Easily, they always make so much noise and-" 

"WOOHOO! Wow, Dilandau, who's got the wheels?" someone in the parking lot yelled. 

Hitomi looked up expectantly. This was the shout of a new motorcycle coming in. 

The silver-haired Dilandau smirked and revved up his motorcycle haughtily. He was part of the popular cliques in the school. He leaped gracefully off his set of wheels and allowed his friends to fawn over his motorcycle. 

Hitomi dropped her sandwich into her lap. 

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "It's an EscaXX" 

"A whah?" mumbled Yukari. 

Ignoring her friend, Hitomi's lips parted slightly as she hungrily took in the EscaXX. 

The EscaXX (the XX part pronounced as "double X") was the latest model out of the Escaflowne Motorcycle Company, which meant that this was definitely a motorcycle to be respected. Every motorcyclist dreamed of owning a motorcycle made by Escaflowne. Each and every one was guaranteed to work smoothly and professionally and was absolutely perfect. The only thing better than an Escaflowne motorcycle were the new upgrades of Escaflownes coming out. Of course someone like Yukari would know nothing about that. 

Hitomi's breath caught in her throat as her mind started whirling… 

_Cushioned seat of softened leather, clean, neat brakes, state of the art engine, high tech motor, sleek, sexy external design, professional look, perfect balance, high quality polish touch up, waxed, designed for intense speed…_

Hitomi moaned longingly. 

Amano looked at Yukari and jerked his head toward Hitomi. "What's up with her?" 

Yukari, who was used to moments like these rolled her eyes. "She's just in raptures again," she explained. 

It then came to Hitomi's attention that here was a bead of drool sliding down her chin. Quickly wiping it away, she continued to watch the display. 

"Nice set of wheels," a guy commented. It was Van Fanel. His ebony, unruly hair flapped over his face, giving him an intimidating look. Dilandau turned to him. 

Hitomi turned her attention to him, jealous thoughts sinking in. Van Fanel was the son of the owner of Escaflowne Motorcycles Company. His popularity was almost as big as his ego too. He of course always had the best motorcycle out there and you could bet he knew everything there is to know about motorcycles. Naturally, Van interested Hitomi. She was extremely jealous of Van for obvious reasons. 

But Van had nothing more to say. He merely looked around him as if puzzled that the attention was on him again. Shrugging, Van spit at the ground and tucked his hands into his sweatshirt pockets. Then he suddenly looked up straight into Hitomi's stare. 

Embarrassed, Hitomi quickly shifted her gaze to the EscaXX, knowing that her reddening face gave her away. She could feel Van's stare still blazing at her face. 

Yukari sighed and poked Hitomi. "Hey, your friends are over here?" 

Startled, Hitomi turned around and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, you know how I am around motorcycles…" 

"Yeah yeah, I forgive you." Yukari shook her head. "Hitomi you don't have to be so shy you know. I mean if you really want to 'be like a motorcycle,'" she small quotation marks in the air, "then why don't you just act like it? You're so damn shy around everyone but me and Amano…" she trailed off seeing Hitomi look down in shame. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to lecture again-" 

"It's okay, Yukari, I know you care," Hitomi assured her. She hugged her knees and rested her chin on them. "I wish I wasn't so shy either." 

"You don't have to be that way," Amano pointed out. 

"I can't help it. I hate when people stare at me, it just gives me the shivers and I choke up. I don't know what to say or do, all I can see are all those staring eyes…" Hitomi shivered and hugged her knees closer. She shifted her gaze to the motorcycles again. "I wish I had my own," she said wistfully. 

"Own what?" asked Amano. 

"Motorcycle, stupid," Yukari said, slapping him playfully on the head. 

"Then I could ride to school everyday on it…" and just for that one moment she'd have everyone's attention and she wouldn't be afraid of it because she was on the motorcycle, and motorcycles aren't afraid, they _crave _the attention. 

Hitomi groaned again as the bell announced the end of lunch. After taking one last look at Dilandau's EscaXX, she got up and went to class. 

**A/N I know Hitomi's OOC, but don't worry, that'll change. Yes, she does have long hair, but that will change too. Just to warn you, I may change the title a few times until I like one so be warned. By the way I'm sorry if I sound really naive about motorcycles because I really don't know much about them at all! I just pretend I do. ^_^; So if any of you know a lot about motorcycles and you have some info that might enlighten me a bit and will help me with this story, tell me! Thanks!**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!**


	2. Snap! And it begins

A/N I was writing this chapter when I realized something: is there an age limit for riding motorcycles? Well, duh, of course there is, but I don't know it! That could mean the characters are too young for riding motorcycles and thus breaking the law throughout the entire fic…well, if the age limit is 21 years old or something then just assume that there is no age limit in this fic. ^_^ Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vision of Escaflowne. I wish I owned Van or Folken but I don't, so let me weep in peace.

Motorcycles of Escalfowne Chapter 2 

            Van stretched out his arms and leaned back in his desk, already bored as hell. Physics was so useless, besides, he already knew everything about it already from working with Balgus, his father. Balgus had lectured him so much about how physics had a heavy hand in the making of motorcycles. You had to design a motorcycle with care or else the rider could get hurt and that would put a stain on the Escaflowne Motorcycle Company's flawless reputation.

            Well, at least it was the last period of the day, meaning he would get the wonderful reward of going home after a round of Physics hell. He did what he always did during Physics: daydream.

            His thoughts circulated around Dilandau's red EscaXX. He snorted to himself, accumulating stares of those around him. Dilandau and an EscaXX, what a laugh! Although being an Escaflowne motorcycle instantly made it better than any other motorcycle and didn't like dissing any Escaflowne bike, Van could still think of several motorcycles ten times better than that old piece of junk, and he owned most of the motorcycles on that list. Sure, the EscaXX was the latest model available, but that only because Escaflowne had not released any new models for three months. Van had seen the new designs, he had even test-drove them himself, and he knew that the EscaXX was nothing to those sleek new babies coming out just next week. He had done a pretty good job if he did say so himself of keeping his sarcasm in when Dilandau had eagerly pressed for his opinion. Dilandau was such a poser but he wasn't that pathetic at times, he didn't deserve to be ridiculed in front of everyone and hadn't given a reason to deserve such humiliation, at least there was no reason yet.

            Van had also wisely, in his opinion, kept quiet about the fact that the Dilandau's red EscaXX didn't really belong to him: it was rented.

            The bell rang. Van leaped out of his desk and sped out of the classroom. Ah, bliss, the end of the school day. And today was even better because it just happened to be Friday. 

            Van strided to the parking lot, attracting raptures and giggles from enraptured girls around him. He did not grace these admirers with his attention. It's not as if he asked to be popular in the school, people just started paying attention to him and he heavily suspected that his family's business was behind that. Plus, he couldn't help it if he was damn good-looking.

            Leaning against his motorcycle (custom made specially for him, of which he fondly named the Dragon) Van sent his gaze out to the surrounding motorcycles, observing them and holding mini commentaries in his head while he waited for his elder brother Folken to arrive. That blue bike over there for example looked sporty but any expert (i.e. him) could tell right away that you wouldn't get good speed riding that heap of junk. He spotted a green painted one to the side and noted that the paint was cheap and the vehicle was rusting. He cast his eyes over an Escaflowne made motorcycle and was about to comment to himself that it was perfect as usual when his eyes glanced over something pretty.

            Van raised his head slowly, a tendril of hair slipping across his face. There was a girl walking extremely slowly past that Escaflowne motorcycle. He watched as the girl gradually slowed to a stop when she was in front of it. Van raised his eyebrows. A girl looking at an Escaflowne? She's definitely got good taste. Most of the girls Van had ever dated liked motorcycles but only saw it as something that made people look cool.

            He squinted his eyes. Van now desperately wanted to see that girl's face, but her damn hair was blocking his view. A light brown mane of hair upon hair covered the girl's backpack and shoulders and some strands were now on her face. Then he immediately recognized the hair and scowled. It was that squeaky Hitomi Kanzaki. That girl was a strange one. The only way he ever identified her was from her hair, which seemed to be her trademark. He had just been momentarily distracted at the moment as she was looking at an Escaflowne motorcycle. Van's brain hazily recollected the day's lunch, when he had felt her staring at him and stared right back at her. Of course, Hitomi had looked away with a blush that obviously meant she was staring at him. It was strange really, everyone had been staring at him at the time but Van had _felt _her intense stare.

            After a few minutes, Hitomi stepped back from the motorcycle and scurried away. Van watched her go curiously and wondered if she was actually interested in that motorcycle or not.

            Suddenly, out of no where, a hand slapped the back of his head. Van spun around and punched his brother lightly in the gut.

            Folken grinned amusedly. "Ah, I can never get you off guard can I, 'lil bro?"

            Van laughed. It was a their old childhood game. Slap one on the head and try to run away before the other punched you in the gut. Folken was the slow one and always got punch. 

            "By the way, Van," Folken said. "Allen here," he jabbed a thumb behind him and then noticed the lack of Allen. "Damnnit where did he go?" 

Folken looked around and spotted the guy in question a yards away flirting with a Millerna, a pretty sophmore. The brothers stared in exasperation. The guy never knew when to stop, did he? At the same time, they both remembered the fact that Allen had just recently broken up with Millerna's older sister.

"Let me guess, Allen needs a ride?" Van asked shaking his head.

"Well maybe he did at one point," Folken said, sighing. He stalked over to Allen and threatened to leave him there if he didn't want a ride. He walked with Allen sulking his in shadow.

"Perfect timing, Folken, I was just building up to the point where I was going to ask Millerna out," Allen complained.

"I'm sure Marlene would love that," Van said, rolling his eyes. He climbed onto his Dragon. "Which bike are you going to go on? The Dragon or the Destiny?" he asked, jerking his head towards Folken's Destiny in silent desperation. Van wanted to ride home alone. Allen had the annoying habit of destroying the perfect balance of his Dragon.

"I'll go with Folken," Allen said quickly.

The ride home was peaceful for once. There were no bikers surrounding him staring at the Fanel brothers and their bikes in awe. That was because it was Friday of course and the scores of teens were now either heading out to the movies or the mall. The lack of attention was slighty surprising but Van didn't mind, not much.

Hitomi quickly ran away from the Escaflowne motorcycle lest anyone notice there gaping at the sheer brilliance of the bike. She had already spotted Van Fanel watching her and as she had no idea what he thought of her especially from the way he had glared at her during lunch, Hitomi decided that her ecstasies would have to be cut short.

It was a shame that such a motorcycle lover as she would be curst with a parent like her mother. Mrs. Kanzaki was biased against the motorcycle from the day Hitomi rode for the first time and had accidentally fallen off the bike. Sure, she had flown completely off the seat and knocked into some random pedestrian and had gotten a few scrapes and bumps. But that random pedestrian had happened to be her uncle, who had caught her easily although that didn't stop them both from stumbling to the ground. But the experience of riding on the bike was pure joy to Hitomi, she had even enjoyed flying off the motorcycle. In fact, her ten-year-old mind had accepted the fall as part of the motorcycle experience and had eagerly hopped right back on. Too bad her mother ordered to get off again. Mrs. Kanzaki from then on refused to by Hitomi her own motorcycle, thus allowing her to beg her aunt for motorcycle rides on the weekend.

In the end, her aunt's job had relocated to a city in a different state, thus taking away the motorcycle and the rides. 

Hitomi sighed. She and Yukari were now sitting at a table at the mall, sipping drinks. There were many other high school students here as well and Yukari had spent a precious ten minutes convincing Hitomi to sit out in the open tables. Reluctantly, Hitomi had given in to Yukari but was still uncomfortable and fidgety in the presence of so many people in one place.

"Calm down 'tomi," Yukari said soothingly when Hitomi jumped when someone had accidentally bumped into her chair. "Don't scare the poor guy, he apologized."

"Sorry," Hitomi mumbled, shifting nervously.

Yukari sighed. "Oh what I am going to do with you?" she asked dramatically, flinging a palm across her forehead. "Your shy traits just overwhelm me. How long shall it take me to get you out of your shell? It just takes so much out of me just to make you go to the _mall_."

Hitomi smiled sarcastically. Yukari liked to complain about Hitomi's shyness but in reality, Hitomi was the one making Yukari get out of her shell. It was Hitomi who spent two hours convincing Yukari not to fake sick to get out of a first date with Amano. 

And speaking of Amano…

"Hey, isn't that your hubby over there, Yukari," Hitomi said, pointing behind her friends back.

Yukari spun around and squealed at the sight of Amano. The brunette senior sat at a table across the food court. With him were his twin, Allen and Van Fanel. Hitomi cringed at the sight of Van. She had already had some uncomfortable moments concerning him twice today and she didn't want a third.

"Hitomi come on," Yukari nagged, tugging at her arm. "Let's go surprise Amano!"

"Um…" Hitomi really didn't want Van to see her right now. She shook her head. "You go ahead, Yukari, I'll just go home."

"But how?" Yukari asked, surprised. "We took _my_ car here. You're not going to walk are you? Your house is miles away!"

"I'll just take the bus. Don't worry about me, go ahead," Hitomi insisted. 

"Are you sure?" Yukari asked, worried.

"Yes! Go! Your hubby's waiting!" Hitomi pushed her friend gently, making shooing motions. Waving goodbye, Hitomi slid off her chair and wound her way to the bus stop.

On the way, something red distracted her. Hitomi stopped dead in her tracks. There before her was a red EscaXX. To her surprise, this bike just happened to be the same one that Dilandau had proudly showed off that noon. 

Hitomi frantically glanced around. Seeing that Dilandau was no where to be seen, Hitomi took the rare oppurtunity to stare at the EscaXX unnoticed, admiring every inch and angle of this beautiful thing. 

Her hand had already reached out before she processed the action. Hitomi hesitated when her hand was just an inch away from the motorcycle seat. Then she scolded herself, Dilandau wasn't there and it wasn't as though she was defiling the bike, she just wanted to touch it. She felt the leather seat cautiously and then, with new courage, placed her whole hand on the seat. Closing her eyes, she imagined riding on this beauty, feeling the wind toss her hair and the exhileration. She ran her hand across the seat, longingly. Sighing, she recalled that she hadn't rode a motorcycle since her fourteenth birthday, about a year ago. She missed it so much, just touching a motorcycle eased her pain for now.

"Feeling up my bike or something?" an oily voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

Hitomi stiffened and quickly took her hand away. Turning around, she prepared herself for the worst.

Dilandau eyed her. Around him were some friends of his. Hitomi began to tremble now. These guys were part of the group who spent recesses behind the school smoking. She knew that Dilandau sometimes hung out with them. She could tell that they had been drinking recently, she could smell it in their breath.

Dilandau smirked at her widened eyes. "Ah, it's little Hitomi Kanzaki, the mouse." He and his minions guffawed loudly.

Hitomi flicked her eye around. There was no hope of slipping away, they had surrounded her on all sides. She would have to shove her way out.

"I'm sorry," she stuttered nervously. "I, I just wanted to lo- look at your-"

"You were fucking feeling up my bike, that's what you were doing," Dilandau cut in. His quirky smirk deepened. "I never thought a chick like you would be interested in motorcycles. And this baby _is_ one sweet motor," he said, fondly patting the EscaXX. He swiveled his eyes toward the quivering Hitomi, an idea forming in his head.

Hitomi gasped as Dilandau suddenly grabbed her hand. "If you like the EscaXX so much that you'd feel it up-"

"I wasn't feeling it up" Hitomi interrupted, surprising herself. She began to think frantically. Why was he holding her hand? She wanted to run away desperately and escape these guys and their leering smirks.

Dilandau snorted. "Wouldn't you like to feel up something… hotter instead?" He jerked her closer and suddenly placed her hand on his butt.

Hitomi snatched her hand back frantically and moved back. "Stop it!" she yelled at him. Dilandau's face darkened. Hitomi nervously glanced around at his companions, who had suddenly grown silent. She ducked her head down, allowing her tendrils of hair to fall to her face.

Dilandau's face expression suddenly grew crazed. "That damn hair," he muttered. He took a step forward so that he stood right in front of Hitomi. 

"You think hiding behind that hair makes you invisible?" he asked, lifting a snarl of hair away from her face. He frowned when Hitomi jerked away at his touch. His expression grew dark again. "You know something, Kanzaki? Everyone knows that you hide behind all that hair just to be unnoticed. But you know what? That hair just makes you even more noticeable then ever! It makes people stare at you more than ever and. It makes them wonder what your face looks like underneath it all. It's one of the legendary mysteries of school." He slipped his fingers through her hair again.

Hitomi jerked away again and backed up, only to bump into one of Dilandau's cronies, who jeered at her and pushed her back. She clenched her shaking hands into fists.

"Stop it," she said again, voice now gone dead with fury. "You're all drunk. I barely even know you and-"

"You don't know us, but _we _know you very well," Dilandau drawled. He laughed at Hitomi's perplexed look. "Like I said, people notice at you a lot more than you think. The shy Hitomi Kanzaki, always hiding, always stuttering, never looking people in the eyes." He smirked again. "It's too bad really, it should be a sin to hide such a pretty face," he said, slipping a finger under her chin and moving her face up.

Hitomi felt a surge of deep anger rooted from confusion. She was doubtful of Dilandau due to his drunkenness but it seemed that he was telling the truth. Lately, she had caught several people staring at her and they had continued to stare even after she disappeared behind her hair. Her hair was her defense, the barrier that protected her from the world and prevented herself from being overwhelmed with shyness. And now Dilandau was saying that it was doing the exact opposite. If so, than Hitomi had been deceived for years and years.

The anger was giving Hitomi a new strength. She reached up to Dilandau's finger on her chin. She yanked it off her face and slapped Dilandau sharply.

Dilanadau's face turned to the side from the slap's impact. There was a shocked look at on his face that quickly transferred to fury. He slowly turned his face back to Hitomi and growled dangerously. He must have been even drunker than Hitomi thought as a crazed smile leaped upon his face again. 

"Bitch," he spat at her, smile still intact. "That slap hurt like hell." His cronies seemed unsure of what to do at the moment but calmed when Dilandau signaled to them to stay where they were. "But don't worry," he reassured her spitefully. "I'll forgive you in exchange for one little thing."

Hitomi watched fearfully as Dilandau reached into his pocket and flicked out a switchblade. 

Dilanadau spun the blade around at his fingertips, smirking. "Just let me have a lock of that beautiful hair of yours." Suddenly, he grabbed at her and pulled her close, grunting as Hitomi struggled. "Wassa matter?" he asked. "You've got plenty of hair and I only want one lock."

"Let me _go_," Hitomi protested. She broke free of him but only stumbled into another oaf, who jeered and jostled her back to Dilandau. 

Dilandau grinned toothily and flicked the blade mockingly at her face.

Throughout the whole affair, something inside Hitomi stretched, as tense as a rubber band. At the moment when the blade passed at the closet point possible to her face, that something in Hitomi snapped.

Her hand whipped out of nowhere. Dilandau was too shocked at seeing her hand and his grip on the blade loosened just slightly. Suddenly, her smooth, cool fingers slipped onto blade, shoving Dilandau's fingers off it.

They all sucked in their breath when Hitomi held the switchblade up to Dilandau's nose, hovering at a dangerous proximity. Hitomi was breathing slowly, as if trying not to lash out rashly. The blade was shaking in her hand. When they saw that thunderous, enraged expression on her face, Dilandau's cronies moved to escape.

"Stay where you are," Hitomi's cold, monotone voice lashed out at them. They froze.

Hitomi was now shaking in fury. "You think my hair's so beautiful?" she asked. Part of her was wondering what the hell she was doing. She had no idea what she had gotten herself into and she should back out as soon as possible. The part of her that was controlling her now calmly told that annoying part to shut up.

"You must think yourself lucky," Hitomi said icily to Dilandau. "This is the most I've spoken to a stranger for months. Yes, I consider you all strangers to me." Hitomi's lip began to tremble. To her shame, a tear began to slip from her eyes but she wiped it away. The blade, shaking but steady, inched closer. "Do you know why I hide? It's because I don't like it when people pay too much attention to me. But you don't care of course. Is it true?" she asked. "Does my hair really attract more attention?"

It took a moment for Dilandau to realize she wanted an answer. "Yes," he said cautiously.

Hitomi stared at him for a moment. The blade moved away.

"What are you doing?" Dilandau shouted as Hitomi moved the blade near to her throat.

Van sighed in relief. Yukari and Amano had just left, going to a movie. It was good thing Amano could take a hint or Van would have killed Yukari for sure. God that girl was annoying as hell. He couldn't figure out what Amano saw in her at all.

"Hey, isn't that Dilandau?" Allen asked, pointing ahead. 

Van looked up. They were about fifty yards away from the parking lot.

"Why does he have knife in his hand?" he murmured. Then he noticed a mane of hair. 

"My god, is that _Hitomi_?" Allen asked, noticing the hair as well. "What's she doing with Dilandau? I thought she didn't talk to-" Dilandau was suddenly pointing the knife at Hitomi.

"What the hell is he doing?" Van exclaimed. He strode forward, somebody had to control Dilandau and those guys over there were just standing around, but Allen suddenly cut off his path.

"Wait," Allen said nodding toward the group. Hitomi had suddenly grabbed the knife straight out of Dilandau's hand and was now holding it at his face.

The two stopped in their tracks in shock.

"That's _Hitomi Kanzaki_," Allen breathed.

"Holding a _knife_," Van gaped.

"At _Dilandau," Allen said._

They both went off at a quickened pace. As they neared, they began to pick up some of the conversation.

"-really attract more attention?" Hitomi was asking.

"Yes," Dilandau answered.

And then suddenly the knife was no longer at Dilandau. It was at Hitomi's neck.

Allen stopped Van again.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Van growled. "We have to stop her!"

"Hitomi isn't suicidal," Allen said smoothly. "Besides, this looks interesting, I want to see how it plays.

Allen's grip on Van's arm was strong so Van reluctantly stayed put. They were standing six yards away from them, unnoticed.

Hitomi seemed to look vaguely amused as Dilandau cried, "What are you doing?"

She smirked a very uncharacteristic grin. "I just want to be left alone," she said in a light tone. "It seems that my long hair prevents me having that. If so, then it's just useless."

Hitomi turned her head to the side and looked up at the darkening sky. Holding the blade in one hand, she gathered her tresses of hair in the other. She brought the knife up and with a violent thrust, Hitomi began to slice through her hair. With a grim expression, she cut off the tendrils of hair that normally covered her face, she sawed through the hair that covered her back, they all sliced clean off like butter. On the inside, the old Hitomi screamed at what she was doing, yelling that she'd regret later on. But that Hitomi was unimportant, the new Hitomi wondered why she had ever listened to that old Hitomi. After all, she had never gotten anything good out of hiding behind her hair. She had changed in that short time, a change was necessary for her hair as well.

Everyone watched in shock as the strands of hair fell away. This was an extremely rash action for someone to do. For Hitomi, it was as if there was another girl standing in her place. This was not the shy Hitomi everyone wondered about. This was a Hitomi to respect.

Hitomi held the cut off hair, staring silently at it. Then she tossed it over Dilandau's head, where landed a few yards away. She glared at Dilandau and his cronies, a sullen look on her face. They could only stare helplessly back.

Allen had let Van go. Van had moved forward while Hitomi sliced off her hair. Now he moved toward the pile of hair. Unconsciously, he bent down and picked up a lock of hair, just touching it for a moment. Without thinking, he carefully coiled up the hair and placed it in his pocket. Van looked up Hitomi again.

Hitomi raised her chin up, looking down her nose at Dilandau. Van was struck by her appearance then: Hair cut at jagged lengths around her shoulders, eyes burning, glowing tears that streamed silently down her cheeks. She looked amazing right there, almost beautiful.

Hitomi looked at blade, still clenched in her fist. The guys around her flinched and scooted back when she threw it too the ground. She glowered at them and directed her gaze to Dilandau, who had a shocked look on his face. 

She nodded toward the pile of hair by Van's feet. "There, take a lock of hair. There's plenty of it," she snapped. When Dilandau only stared at her more, her eyebrows pinched together. "You don't want it? Fine. Then get out here!" she spat. 

Dilandau looked uncomfortable. "Um…" he mumbled.

"What?" Hitomi whipped at him.

"My…bike…"

Hitomi looked down and saw that she was leaning on the EscaXX. She demurely stood up and walked away from the motorcycle. When they were still standing still she growled at them. They left quickly after that.

It was then that Hitomi registered Van and Allen. She began to blush, looking more like the former Hitomi. But that was all she did. She didn't look down or run away.

"Did you see all that?" she asked wearily.

They nodded slowly, not knowing how to react to such a different person.

"Are you alright?" Van asked. After seeing the EscaXX he correctly guessed that it had something to do with it and began to feel partly responsible for no reason.

Hitomi looked at him. Van tried not to flinch as she gazed straight into his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be alright?" Hitomi replied. It was hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

            Hitomi looked at Allen, wondering if he was going to say anything. He just stood there, staring at her. She sighed.

            "Um… well I'm going home then," she said.

            "Wait," Van said. He was certain that he EscaXX had something to do with the incident. Guilt began to settle in. "How are you going to get home? Do you need a ride?" he asked.

            "I'll take the bus but thanks for offering." Hitomi said demurely, hiding her surprise.

            "No, I insist. I'll take you home on my motorcycle," Vash offered again, not taking a no for an answer.

            It wasn't as if Hitomi could say no. The chance of riding a motorcycle brought a spark to her eyes. "Thanks," she said.

            Their motorcycles were parked nearby. Van handed Hitomi an extra helmet and secured his on.

            "Don't forget to return that bike, Allen," he reminded his friend.

            "Oh I won't," Allen said distantly, still staring at Hitomi.

            Hitomi ignored the stare. She climbed on the back seat of Van's Dragon, sliding her arms around Van's waist.

            Van tended to judge girls by the way they reacted on a motorcycle. There were the girls who jumped, startled and tightened their hold around his waist. There were also those who squealed in fear and quivered for the whole ride. Hitomi was her own individual set of a girl. As Van turned on the engine, he could feel Hitomi's tense body relax, her arms around his waist loosening. He even heard Hitomi sigh in contentment. It was as if Hitomi had settled somewhere where she belonged. Having this kind of girl at his back on a motorcycle was oddly comforting. This factor made it a smooth ride.

            Van got to Hitomi's house in no time flat. Hitomi gave him the helmet.

            "Thanks for the ride," she said. 

            "No problem. Sorry if it was a little bumpy," Vash said.

"Not at all," Hitomi denied. "That's a really nice bike by the way."

"Thanks." Van fell silent for a while. Hitomi assumed that he had nothing left to say and turned around to leave but Van stopped her.

"Aren't your parents going to wonder about…you know-" Van indicated her new haircut. 

Hitomi's eyes flickered to the side. "I'll think of an excuse."

"Good luck." Van hesitated before asking one last question. "Hitomi, why'd you do it?" he asked quietly.

Hitomi looked at him and then looked away. "It's hard to explain. I guess I just felt that it's no use hiding behind my hair anymore. You know, I grew it long so that people wouldn't notice me, but according to Dilandau, people stare at me all the time." She looked him straight in the eye again. "Is that true?"

Van carefully picked his answer. "People just can't help notice you behind your hair, and they wonder what you have to hide." Actually, people just wanted to look at her because she was considered a hottie. Looking at her now, Van could agree that Hitomi was very pretty indeed.

Hitomi shrugged. "Well, bye then." She turned around and walked back into the house.

On Monday, the students of Gaea High received a huge shock. 

Hitomi smiled amusedly to herself. She couldn't blame them for being surprised. Her mother had been shocked for sure to see her fabulous haircut. Hitomi had just shrugged and remarked that she wanted a change. Mrs. Kanzaki had taken her to the beauty salon during the weekend to straighten her hair out.

Even Yukari was mortally shocked. "Hitomi!" she gasped. "Your…your…your…

Hitomi grinned widely. "Like my new hair cut?" she asked, running a hand through her hair. 

Yukari could only mouth wordlessly to herself.

Hitomi's hair had been clipped in a classic but stylish tomboy style. It was feathery and light. Hitomi loved it. She now felt light-headed without the former weight of long hair. With some regret, she had to remind herself that she could no longer disappear behind her hair. But then again, the disappearing thing was just a lie anyway.

It was almost funny to see people's reactions. She was aware that people would stare at her more than ever now but that couldn't be helped. Guys now more frequently stared at her figure and girls narrowed their eyes jealously at her. Some people even looked at her with their mouths hanging open. 

They whispered literally behind her back. _Wow, that's Hitomi? My god she's so pretty? Who knew she would look like this underneath at hair?_ They looked at her and saw a newly born beauty. They took in her strange new calmness and her passionate eyes. What had happened to her that would evoke such a transformation?

Hitomi looked up at a group of senior guys watching her, who looked away quickly. She sighed. The reasons why she had cut her hair ran deeper then the reason she had given Van. She remembered when she was a small girl and had this exact tomboy hair cut. Her classmates had jeered at her, calling her boy and asking if she was really a girl. In the end, Hitomi had gotten fed up with all the attention. She thought that since people teased her all the time in her short hair, maybe longer hair would make them go away. 

But that had certainly backfired.

So now Hitomi was trying the reverse method, only with a twist. Hitomi was no longer going to be shy anymore.

Van was not quite as shocked about Hitomi's transformation as everyone else. In fact, Van would have been disappointed if Hitomi didn't shock the whole school in some way. He walked up to her in the hallway, ignoring the surprised looks on the surrounding faces when he spoke to her.

"How did you parents react?" he asked casually. 

Hitomi looked up in surprise at him. A guy so popular as he would talk to her at the mall but at school? She shrugged.

"I just told her I needed a change and it didn't turn out the way I wanted," she replied.

"Cool," he said. Van was about to walk away but Hitomi said something first.

"About last night?" Hitomi remarked.

"Yeah?" Van asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hitomi's eyes flickered down a little before courageously looking up at him again. "Thanks for being so kind to me."

Van's expression softened. "What's to thank me for? I just gave you a ride home," he commented, a corner of his mouth tugging upward.

Hitomi smiled. Just then the bell rang and they scrambled off to their classes.

A/N wow this chapter was more than twice as long as the previous one. It's actually almost three times as long. Well, this is the dramatic chapter, the ones that give the character development a push forward. Right now, I'm going to apologize to the people who are probably pissed at me. First, the Dilandau fans for making Dilandau the bad guy here. I'm sorry if he is kinda cool but for this fic he's not the good guy. And second, to Lady Luna for cutting Hitomi's hair. I couldn't help it and I had originally planned it anyway. Gomen o sai!

**Reviews?**


	3. Track Arrow

A/N Thank you everyone for reviewing! I think that last chapter will be the longest in this story. It was pretty emotional. ^_^; Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. Motorcycles of Escaflowne Chapter 3 

            Hitomi sat slumped over her desk. She glared at the board and imagined a drop of acid eating its way through the stupid mathematical formulas written on it. It didn't give her very much satisfaction.

            On Friday, she had cut off her hair in an act of defiance. She wanted to defy her shyness and come out of her shell again. It also defied her classmates: Hitomi was going to show that she wasn't just the shy girl behind the hair.

            Too bad her act of defiance wasn't doing anything.

            In truth, Hitomi had only changed a little. Her haircut was the only drastic change that remotely resembled an act of defiance. True, she did not hide away anymore but that was because there was nothing to hide behind anymore as her hair was cut off. She also had a little more courage to look people in the eye right now, but that was extremely rare.

            Shortly after first period had started, Hitomi discovered that, as her hair usually covered her face, she was in the habit of looking down. Now that her hair was out of the way, Hitomi had naturally, out of habit, cast her gaze down at the floor. Then she wondered what was so interesting about the floor and looked up. It was shocking to realize that looking upward was uncomfortable for her. 

            In the hallways, Hitomi walked to the side, skirting contact with other students. She stopped in surprise, wondering why the hell she was still avoiding others. Hitomi had then carefully walked into the middle of the hallway. She then promptly bumped into a tall senior who, when he recognized her, immediately started to apologize. Hitomi then found herself looking down and stopped, horrified. The blush rose to her cheeks again, but not in shyness, embarrassment. She then raised her head, told the senior it was alright and went on her way. The senior stood there, gaping in surprise. Hitomi had been so distracted that she hadn't noticed that the senior was the popular Allen Schezar. 

            And here, as Hitomi slumped over her desk hoping that acid would burn the mathematical equations on the board, she had realized that although her mind had changed, her instincts had not. She was still used to acting shy and she still acted that way. And here she was now, thinking herself acting defiantly.

            Hitomi felt utterly stupid.

            When the bell finally released the class from the mathematical equations, Hitomi leaped from her desk and hurried out instead of lingering behind as normal. She was the first one to leave the classroom.

            As she strided to her next class, Hitomi took the opportunity to look around her. One group of sophomore guys instantly looked away when she cast her gaze on her, a sure sign that they had been staring at her before. Hitomi looked another direction and found the same result. 

She sighed. All throughout the day, she had noticed people staring openly at her wherever she went. It annoyed her. Sure, her hair was very different, but it wasn't that shocking really. Hitomi wondered if there was a sign that said, "kick me" on her back but there wasn't. Aside from her hair, there wasn't anything strikingly different about Hitomi's appearance. So why were people staring at her so much?

_"People notice you a lot more than you think."_ Dilandau had told her that with so much certainty. 

Hitomi reached her class and sat her desk. As an experiment, Hitomi looked around her again. Papers shuffled, heads quickly turned, students around her were suddenly very busy with their backpacks.

Hitomi blinked. She propped her elbow onto the desk, resting her chin on her palm and flicked her eyes around once more. Again, there was a shuffle as the students suddenly looked preoccupied. Hitomi felt her cheeks beginning to turn red.

The starers flinched as Hitomi Kanzaki did something rare: she glared at them.

Hitomi covered a smile of satisfaction. It was amusing to see their reactions to her small changes.

"Yukari?" 

"Yeah 'tomi?"

"Do people normally stare at me all the time?"

Yukari stared at her friend. "Why do you ask?" she said cautiously. They were at their usual lunchtime spot. It was just the two of them, as Amano had lunchtime detention.

Hitomi shrugged. "I know we don't have many classes together so I don't see you much. But, well-" She shifted uncomfortably. "I've noticed that people stare at me, like all the time. Is that true?"

Yukari sighed. _"Is it true?" _This was a question that Hitomi had been asking frequently these past days.

"To be honest, whenever I walk with you, people around us always have their eyes on you. Yes, you Hitomi," she insisted when Hitomi gave her a bug-eyed look.

"Has it always been that way?"

"Pretty much. I just ignore it so I didn't really notice…"

Hitomi blew a strand of hair out of her face pensively. There was Dilandau in the parking lot again, leaning on his EscaXX. He seemed to shift from side to side, uneasy. Hitomi flicked her eyes around and found Van there too, standing next to his Dragon. He noticed Hitomi's glance and waved at her in greeting. Hitomi waved back, dreamily.

Yukari gaped next to her. "Hitomi!" she hissed. "Did Van Fanel just wave to you?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Hitomi!" Yukari sighed in exasperation. "That's _Van Fanel?_ Hello? Popular Van that everyone respects? The guy whose father owns Escaflowne Motorcycles? He just _waved _to you."

"So?"

Yukari blew out impatiently. "Doesn't that mean anything to you? You've been interested in you for like forever-"

"No, Yukari," Hitomi countered calmly. "I was jealous of Van and his family business, not interested in him."

"What are you talking about? You stared at him all the time!" Yukari pointed out.

"I don't stare at him all the time and when I did, I was staring at his motorcycle, not him," Hitomi corrected.

Yukari buried her face in her knees and screamed silently. "Oh Hitomi, you're so hopeless."

"Why thank you."

They both burst out laughing. When they stopped, Yukari still pressed the matter.

"Why did he wave to you?"

"I don't know, to say hi?"

"_Hitomi_."

"Okay okay, no need to growl at me!" Hitomi resettled herself. "On Friday, he drove me home from the mall. So now I guess we're kind of friendly," she explained.

"He drove you home so now you're kind of friendly," Hitomi said faintly. Then she smacked Hitomi on the head. "There's more to it than that, 'tomi, I know it. Tell me again."

Hitomi stayed silent for a moment. Then she said, somewhat hesitantly, "I had…a little…trouble at the mall with Dilandau and his friends…"

Yukari listened intently. Something had happened over the weekend to Hitomi, and as her best friend, she still didn't know what it was.

"Um…" Hitomi thought for some words. "I managed to… call off Dilandau…"

"Stop being vague, Hitomi," Yukari said.

Hitomi sighed and told Yukari about that Friday night. Yukari whistled. 

"Jeez, so that's why you came to school with the new hairdo."

Hitomi shrugged. "I would've done something about it sooner or later."

A shadow fell over them. They looked up to see Van Fanel leaning on a tree. He looked as if he had been standing there for a while.

"Hello, ladies," he said politely.

"Hey Van," Hitomi greeted him. "What brings you here?"

Van shrugged indifferently. "Nothing. Just passing by." He nodded to them and walked away.

Yukari had a small mischievous smile on her face.

"He likes you," she said bluntly.'

Hitomi closed her eyes and opened them again. "No," she said.

"Well, I'm sure he didn't come over for _me_. I _am_ taken after all."

"Shut up."

"You shouldn't be so pessimistic about yourself, Hitomi. You're actually really pretty, whether you like or not."

"Oh never mind."

Van groaned. He and Allen were sitting on the bleachers, watching the track teams practice. Allen was here because Amano, who was the captain of the track team, needed a ride home. Van was here in order to ensure that Allen returned the motorcycle as he had failed to do so on Friday. Van was regretting this; he was bored.

Allen, of course, was having the time of his life. He was perfectly happy watching long-limbed girls in track shorts and tank tops running back and forth. As long as he ignored the boys track team practicing in the same clothes, Allen was like a baby with a sweet.

"Ah, there she is," Allen commented when Millerna walked out to the start line of the hundred meter dash. Van rolled his eyes.

Millerna's father, like Van, was the owner of a large franchise. In fact, he owned the mall. His three daughters were all very pretty and extremely witty, their father's business only enhanced their popularity. Millerna was the youngest of the three and perhaps the most vivacious.

"You're such a playboy, Allen," Van said. "Didn't you just break up with Millerna's sister?"

"Oh yeah, Millerna's there too," Allen mumbled to himself.

"You didn't mean Millerna?"

"Not at all." Allen pointed to the girl racing against Millerna. It was Hitomi Kanzaki.

Van frowned. Why was Allen interested in Hitomi all of a sudden? He started to scowl at he bench in front of him. It wasn't as though Allen had said anything to Hitomi that Friday night, he had just gaped at her. 

What gave him the right to be interested in Hitomi?

After he had this thought, Van mentally slapped himself. It wasn't as if Van had much of that right himself. Seeing Hitomi that night had really changed her in his eyes. Hitomi was certainly an unusual breed. To Van's mind, nobody really truly deserved her.

Then Van wondered why he had that particular thought.

Hitomi stretched out her long legs, Millerna doing the same beside her. She wondered why the coach was making her race Millerna. Millerna was one of the fastest runners on the team. Hitomi was only just okay. Well, that wasn't really true. Hitomi just never exerted herself to her fullest yet, she could be the fastest if she wanted to, and it was just that nobody knew it yet.

Next to her, Millerna suddenly sighed happily. Wondering why, Hitomi followed her happy gaze to the bleachers and caught sight of Allen and Van. They were both staring at towards Millerna and her.

Thinking of Van reminded Hitomi of his family business. She moved her gaze and caught sight of two motorcycles parked at the bottom of the bleachers. She instantly recognized Van's Dragon as one of them. She suddenly smiled to herself, remembering the smooth operating system of the Dragon. Van sure had one good bike.

"Ready."

Hitomi and Millerna went into their starting positions.

"Go!" The whistle sounded.

Hitomi and Millerna shot off like an arrow. Millerna pulled up ahead. Hitomi was only going at a comfortable pace, not at her record-breaking speed that nobody knew about. She was also distracted, thinking of the Dragon.

In a space of a few seconds, Hitomi's mind began to be dominated by the memory of the Dragon. It was such a good bike, really high class. When Van took her home, he had sometimes ignored the speed signs and pulled a 90. She had cried out in happiness then. It had been deliciously fast.

Her body began to shape itself to her thoughts. Hitomi's eyes widened lazily. The memory of the intense speed of the Dragon buried itself in her eyes. She didn't notice her legs suddenly picking up speed because she was distracted by the sudden desire to once again be just like a motorcycle, fast and sleek. Hitomi wanted to feel the wind blowing in her hair and whipping pass her face. She wasn't going very fast now, she had to go faster! Be just like a motorcycle! The fastest!

Hitomi failed to notice Millerna disappearing behind her as she accelerated more and more. She even kept on running as she passed the finish line. Hitomi only stopped sprinting when she reached the bend in the track lap, running onto the grass and stopping just short of the fence.

She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Turning around, Hitomi cringed as she met the stares of her track mates and the coaches.

"Sorry," Hitomi said as she walked back. "I just got carried away I guess…"

The coach stared at her and then at the stopwatch in her hand. She looked suspiciously at Hitomi.

"Have you been holding out on us, Kanzaki?" she asked.

Hitomi blinked. "Sorry?"

"Kanzaki, you beat Millerna by two seconds and you beat your personal time by six seconds. You either accomplished an impossible amount of progress since last practice or you've been running slowly for the whole year. Which is it, Kanzaki?"

Hitomi was beginning to turn red. "I…I don't know, coach," she said uncertainly. "Something just came over and…well…" she began to look sheepish. "To tell you the truth, I didn't even notice it."

Coach nodded. "Take a short rest, Kanzaki."

"Thanks coach. I don't really feel tired though." In fact, Hitomi still felt in great shape.

"Really? Then run the next one."

The coach made her run the next two hundred meter dashes. She beat all of them. Her times were all roughly the same and consistent. The coach looked at her in exasperation.

"Kanzaki, you _have _been holding out on us. You haven't been running your full potential at all this year, have you?"

Hitomi shrugged. "I just didn't try, I guess."

"Well I'd better start seeing these times consistently, or maybe some improvement."

"Yes coach."

            On a whim, Hitomi glanced up at the bleachers again. Van was sitting slumped on the bench while Allen sat forward, intent on the scene below. Allen noticed her gaze and smiled at her.

            It didn't occur to Hitomi that Allen was smiling at her so she just shrugged and sat down, taking a cool swig from her water bottle.

            Millerna slung herself down next to her.

            "Good race, Hitomi," she said cheerfully to her. "I never thought anyone could beat me. You proved me wrong," she commented good-naturedly.

            "I think the coach is going to work me real hard today," Hitomi murmured.

            Millerna laughed. She opened her mouth to say something when Yukari ran up from behind her.

            "Hitomi you were fabulous!" Yukari squealed. Being the President of the track team, Yukari was well informed of Hitomi's sudden progress. "You were so fast!" It was then that she noticed Millerna. "You were good too," she added to her.

            Millerna raised an eyebrow archly. "Thanks," she said dryly and left.

            It didn't look like it but Van had watched Hitomi's racing with rapt attention. He looked in awe as Hitomi zipped down the track like a speeding bullet.

            More like a motorcycle, he thought to himself. Yeah, that was a better analogy. She moved just like a motorcycle, efficiently and confidently.

            To his annoyance, Allen was watching her too. Van heard him whistle as Hitomi ran a third time.

            "She's got some legs," he noted to himself. Van rolled his eyes again. Allen's observations on Hitomi were starting to rattle on his nerves. He was surprised to realize that he liked it better when Allen was in raptures about Millerna.

            "Hey Van, can you do me a favor?" Allen asked.

            "Depends."

            "Give Amano a ride home."

            Van raised an eyebrow. "He's _your _brother. _You _give him a ride home."

            Allen sighed. "But I see another down there who needs a ride more desperately then that dear brother of mine."

            Van glanced down. "Who Millerna? Don't bother, she's got dozens of guys offering her rides already."

            "Not Millerna, Van."

            When Allen didn't elaborate Van took a sideways glance at him. "Not Hitomi, is it?"

            Allen sighed happily. "I already knew she was pretty," he remarked. "But she was always to shy so that I didn't dare make a move on her. Then that night, Hitomi changed like blossoming flower." His smile widened dreamily. "Today, I accidentally bumped into her in the halls and I immediately apologized for fear of her hating me forever. But you know what she did? She looked at me and said it was all right. Hitomi Kanzaki said it was alright for bumping in to her."

            Van rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Sorry, you'll have to drive Amano home."

            Allen narrowed his eyes toward his friend. "What? Are you planning to drive her home?"

            "Well…"

            Allen threw up his hands. "Van, Van, Van. Don't you know that Hitomi would appreciate a ride from me more than from you?"

            "I was the one who took Hitomi home last Friday," Van shot back. "I spoke to her. You just stared at her."

            "I was enraptured by her startling performance and her enhanced beauty. I was taken by surprise," Allen protested.

            Van shrugged. "Shall we make it race then…"

            Hitomi walked out of the locker room feeling refreshed and bright. As she had predicted, the coach had worked her hard, trying to see if Hitomi could be fast on a consistent basis. She hadn't really minded, it was nice to run fast.

            She looked around for Yukari and blinked to see Van walking toward her. She looked the other way to see Allen walking toward her as well, just a breath behind Van.

            "Hitomi," Van greeted her. "Nice running."

            "Thanks, Van," Hitomi said.

            Allen was there then and was opening his mouth-

            "I can take you home if you like?" Van cut in suddenly.

            Hitomi looked at him, a puzzled expression in her eyes. "Thanks," she said. Van brightened. "But no thanks," she added. "I already have a ride. Yukari's driving me home." She shrugged and smiled. "I'll see you, bye," she called over her shoulder as she walked to meet Yukari.

            "Bye," Van and Allen called out at the same time. Then they glared at each other.

            Millerna walked out of the locker room on this scene. Allen's expression changed immediately.

            "Hello, Millerna, you looked lovely today," Allen remarked gallantly.

            "Oh stop, Allen. You're just flattering me," Millerna said playfully.

            "But I'm not," Allen said blinking innocently. Then he cut to the chase. "Can I give you a ride home?"

            "Well…" Millerna glanced over at other guys waiting for her. Then she shrugged. "Why not?" 

            Allen offered his arm and they walked out, arm in arm to Allen's borrowed motorcycle.

            Van stared at Allen in distaste and left.

            Amano walked out of the locker room and was forced to walk home.

**A/N Poor Amano! Allen and Van forgot about him…lol.**

**Review!**


	4. Black Escaflowne

A/N Okay, just to tell you all, I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday (which is in two days since today is Sunday, but than again by the time this gets posted it will be Monday so that would make it in one day) so I highly doubt that I will update very soon. So don't expect an update for a while. The longest it will take shouldn't be more than a week. Gomen o sai! To make it up to you, this chapter is pretty romantic, VxH moments of course. Forget Allen! 

**Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. Motorcycles of Escaflowne 

**Chapter 4**

            Van and Folken stood a few paces away from the covered motorcycle. Balgus rubbed his hands, anticipating. 

            "This is a historic moment, boys and girls," Balgus said dramatically.

            There was a snort next to Van. Merle, his adopted cousin, pressed a hand over her mouth to smother the giggles but to now avail.

            Balgus's scared face quivered laughingly but somehow retained a stern enough look. "This is no laughing matter, Merle. Today is the day I reveal-" Balgus unveiled the motorcycle proudly. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Black Escaflowne!"

            His children's sarcastic looks slowly changed into awe. 

            The Black Escaflowne was a project that Balgus had been working on for the past five years. It was something so big that he had wakened his three children up at 5:30 a.m., just for them to preview it before school. Balgus had personally worked on the designs rather than leaving it to his engineers and had kept a heavy hand secured on the production of the Black Escaflowne. This was a revolutionary bike, a motorcycle that would surpass even the best of Escaflowne's older bikes.

            It was simply beautiful. Balgus had painstakingly ensured that it was engineered with only state of the art technology and made with only the best materials. He had only labored long and hard on the designs so as to give the Black Escaflowne a dangerous and cool edge. And of course, every model sold would be painted ebony black. With all these outstanding qualities, the Black Escaflowne would of course be extremely expensive, only sold to the serious motorcycle lovers and would fetch a wallop of profit. This would make Escaflowne Motorcycles even richer than before.

            Although it wouldn't be released to the public for sale for a few weeks, Balgus's children had the great privilege of owning their very own Black Escaflowne. The trouble was that there was only one.

            Van stared hungrily at the Black Escaflowne, drool forming at the corners of his mouth. Merle raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. Folken merely stood.

            Balgus beamed as he ran a hand over the bike. "I think we all know who deserves the very first Black Escaflowne." He tilted his smile toward Van. He crooked a finger. "Come on over, Van. Let's see how you like it."

            "Can I have ride, Van? Please? Please?" Merle squealed as Van hopped onto the bike, a wide grin stretching out his cheeks.

            "Sure, I'll take you to school," Van offered distractedly. He sighed, loving every moment of just touching the Black Escaflowne. And it was his!

            Folken observed Van and Merle fawning over the Black Escaflowne, face unemotional. He abruptly turned around and left the garage.

            Van frowned after Folken's retreating back but his mind instantly dashed back to the motorcycle under him. He wiggled his behind, settling onto the seat.

            So therefore, Van was near bursting with pride as he rolled into the student parking lot, conscious of the admiring looks he was getting and pretending not to notice them. He parked his bike and looked up to face his new admirers. Smiling, he noticed Dilandau leaning on his red EscaXX and smirked. Somehow, he felt a twitch of dislike for Dilandau ever since Hitomi had cut her hair. Well, Van knew the reason why he disliked Dilandau for that: it had been Dilandau's fault that Hitomi had had such an disturbing night. Then again, if it hadn't been for Dilandau, Hitomi would not have cut her hair and changed for the better.

            Van caught Dilandau's jealous stare and smirked at him. He had never really liked Dilandau anyway, he had always strucked him as a poser anyway.

            Hitomi had overslept on that particular school day and was so late that she didn't even stop by the parking lot, thus missing Van's impressive entrance. Therefore Hitomi did not know of the Black Escaflowne's existence until lunchtime.

            Van grinned as he watched Hitomi's mouth slowly hang open at the sight of the Black Escaflowne. "Hey Hitomi!" he called, waving his arm.

            Hitomi looked up at him in surprise and was about to look down but stopped herself just in time. "That's some bike, Van!" she yelled back.

            "Wanna take a closer look?" Van shouted.

            Hitomi hesitated for a moment but the Black Escaflowne's presence shattered the shyness. She hopped up and approached Van, eyes wide with awe.

            "Wow," she breathed. "It's amazing!"

            "Yeah. Balgus has working on this model for so long." Van suddenly had the urge to spew out more impressive facts and babbled on. "It's called the Black Escaflowne won't even be for sale until next month at least! This is the only model out there currently. Balgus decided to give it to me, because I deserve it of course."

            "Sure you do," Hitomi mumbled distractedly. She crouched down to take a better look. "Wait, who's Balgus?"

            "My dad," Van answered.

            Hitomi looked up at him. "You call your dad by his first name?" Was it just her, or did Van suddenly look depressed?

            Van shifted uncomfortably. "Balgus isn't my biological father, he's actually my uncle, my real dad's older brother." He looked away suddenly. "My parents died in a fire, along with my other uncle and aunt. Balgus adopted us after the-" Van swallowed, "-you know."

            "Oh," Hitomi said. Then she berated herself mentally. _Oh? Oh? _Is that all she could say? Van had just told her something personal and all she said was _oh_? "I'm sorry," she said, trying to make up for _oh_.

            Van shrugged, trying to look indifferent. "Balgus is a great father to me. He took me and Folken and my cousin Merle in at once with hesitation, even though he was busy being the head of a company and a single man." He blinked suddenly and froze in horror. __

_            I-am-not-crying-I-am-not-crying-_ he repeated over and over to himself. Van glanced over at Hitomi now, wondering why he had just spilled his family troubles to her. Maybe it was because she was a good listener, never interrupting and always looking him in the face.

            There was a sad look on her face now, Van grimaced and turned his head to the motorcycle. Great, now she pitied him. Good job Van.

            It wasn't as if he was emotionally traumatized by his parent's death. It had been nine years ago, when he was six and Folken was eight. Merle had gotten the worse of it. She had been only four years old, just recently adopted by his other aunt and uncle. She had lost two sets of parents in only one year. 

            Van shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts of the death. He forced a grin on his face and turned back to Hitomi. "So, how do you like it?" he asked, suddenly anxious for her opinion.

            Hitomi blinked, flustered. Van had just looked so depressed and dejected right there. The change of emotion startled her. 

            "You already know what I think, stupid," she said teasingly. "This is best motorcycle I've ever seen!"

            Van breathed a sign of relief. The fact that Hitomi liked it made the Black Escaflowne seem better than ever. "You have to ride it to really be convinced," Van said placidly.

            Hitomi glanced at him. "Meaning…?"

            A corner of Van's strained smile tugged up into a genuine smile. "How about I take you home after school today? You don't look like you get the ride bikes very often."

            "I don't! My mom won't get me my own!" Hitomi said, brightening. She was getting lucky. Another chance to ride a motorcycle and the best one at that. Hitomi began to feel a happy bubbly feeling in her chest. She opened her mouth to accept and then remembered something. "Oh no," she said, slapping her forehead. "Sorry, I forgot. I have track practice today."

            "That's no problem. I'll just pick you up after practice," Van offered.

            Hitomi's eyes grew big with happiness. "That would great. Thank you so much!"

            Van glowed with pleasure. "The pleasure is all mine."

            They both went back to admiring the Black Escaflowne. Other people eating in the parking lot watched them, itching to go up to the bike but hesitating at the sight of Hitomi Kanzaki. In fact, they'd much rather watch. Hitomi Kanzaki and Van Fanel had certainly been very friendly these days, ever since Hitomi's sudden new hair cut.

            "So this the only Black Escaflowne out there at the moment?" Hitomi asked.

            "Yeah. I'm so glad Balgus gave it to me," Van stated proudly.

            "But isn't Folken going to inherit the company after Balgus?" Hitomi questioned.

            Van shrugged. "I suppose Balgus wants Folken to take after, being the oldest and all. But lately Folken hasn't been very keen on taking the job." Seeing Hitomi's puzzled look, Van was suddenly aware of the fact that he was telling very personal affairs to Hitomi. But that mystified look on her face prompted him to talk more."

            "Folken isn't as into motorcycles as you and I are," Van admitted. "Balgus says that Folken is like our father: he only works with motorcycles for the job, not for the sheer love of it." Then suddenly, it clicked into place. "That's what Balgus and Folken were arguing for!" he shouted.

            "Eh, what?" Hitomi asked. She was beginning to wonder why Van was spilling out all this random news.

            "They were arguing about Folken's college applications. Folken was refusing to do any engineering because he doesn't want to work with motorcycles!" Van said, figuring it out. It had been a very loud night, hearing Balgus and Folken's bellowing voices through the night.

            "Okay…" Hitomi said, not sure how to respond.

            Van shook himself out of that mood and ran a hand through his messy, black hair distractedly. Hitomi watched, slightly mesmerized at the sight of this. For some reason, she wanted to run _her _fingers through his hair at that moment.

            Hitomi stretched out her arms, eyes surveying the bleachers. Yes, there was Van, sitting on the top row, arms crossed with a bored look on his face. She waved to him and grinned when he waved back. She turned to walk to the track, thoughts drifting in her head. 

            Why did Van offer her the ride anyway? There were plenty of girls in the school much prettier than her and would have loved the ride very much, but why little old her?

            Come to think of it, Van had certainly been paying a lot more attention to her than usual over the week, usual referring to before her haircut. In the hallways they would exchange friendly greetings and during lunch they would chat together.

            Hitomi froze at this thought. Yes, that was right. Van only started talking to her after that night. Before, there was almost no contact between them.

            And then Hitomi realized that before, she hadn't really spoken to Van at all before either. She had only envied him because motorcycles surrounded him and his life while she only dreamed.

            It all seemed to revolve around that night when she sawed off her hair. Well, Van had certainly changed in her eyes. Hitomi had thought of Van as another indifferent, arrogant, popular guy, but in truth, there were more layers to Van than meets the eye.

            Had she changed in Van's eyes as well?

            Hitomi snuck another peek at Van and looked away quickly. Van was staring directly at her. It made Hitomi slightly uncomfortable.

            "Okay Kanzaki, you're next," the coach called out.

            Hitomi stood up and took her spot at the start line. For inspiration, she envisioned the Black Escaflowne speeding down the highway. Hitomi had made it a habit to think of motorcycles before beginning a race. It settled her mind and smoothly transferred her into the right sprinting mood. The inspiration worked. Hitomi beat her personal time by a second.

            As she walked over to a bench, Hitomi glanced up at Van again. He noticed her glance and gave her a thumbs-up. For some reason, Hitomi felt a huge surge of happiness. Smiling she plopped down next to Yukari with a thump.

            Yukari clucked her tongue and raised an eyebrow at Hitomi. "Sure," she said, "he _doesn't _like you. Not at all. None whatsoever. Never ever-"

            "Oh shut up, 'kari."

            Hitomi slipped on the helmet, jumping with excitement.

            "Ah, Hitomi, you may want to let me drive," Van reminded her as Hitomi plopped down in the front.

            "Oh, right, sorry," Hitomi said, flustered.

            Van smiled at her and revved up the motor. He felt Hitomi's body behind him move back into the natural movement of the motorcycle. He was also extremely conscious of the pair of arms wrapped loosely around his waist and the slim mass of warmth at his back.

            As they sped down the road, Van felt himself relax. For the first time in weeks, Van felt completely at peace with himself and the world. Perhaps it was the smooth riding of the Black Escaflowne or the feeling that he was where he belonged. Maybe it was the fact that Hitomi was actually touching him, holding him at that, something a multitude of guys at school dreamed about. 

The setting sunbeams streaked across the sky behind him and Van felt Hitomi shift slightly, staring at the sunset. She leaned back in her seat and laughed giddily into the rush of wind. 

_That's my kind of girl, _Van thought to himself. 

As he admitted his feelings for Hitomi to himself, Van felt her arms tighten around his waste, the body warmth scooting closer. A helmeted head appeared at his right, resting on his shoulder in total contentment. Van knew right then that Hitomi was feeling the same peace of mind as he did.

The Black Escaflowne seemed to purr happily as Hitomi wrapped her arms even closer to Van. It was a perfect, everlasting moment.

But the moment ended once they reached Hitomi's house. Hitomi regretfully got off the Black Escaflowne, slipping off her helmet and shaking out her hair. Van had only glanced at her and the full mesmerism of Hitomi's beauty hit like a cream pie. 

Noticing the attention, Hitomi smiled nervously at Van. Handing him the helmet, she said, "Thanks for the ride."

Van, still gazing into her eyes, smiled lazily. "No," he replied, "thank _you_." And then he leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips. Grinning at her, Van put on his helmet and rode away.

Hitomi stared after him and touched her finger to her warm lips. She numbly walked into the house and froze dramatically. Then, a dreamy smile crept onto her face.

"What're you smiling about?" asked Mrs. Kanzaki upon finding her daughter in this state.

"It's been a great day, mom," Hitomi replied and went to her room.

            __

**A/N Haha! There's your romantic scene. So I'll see you guys after my wisdom teeth are out and I'm all sane again! In the meantime, your reviews would be good.**


	5. Anguish of Schezar

A/N So it's been a little over a week since I last updated. Gomen! Thank you for being so patient. I was really miserable with my wisdom teeth operation and I not only had all four wisdom teeth taken out, I also had my tongue thingy snipped, I forgot the name of it at the moment. It's that skinny thingy under tongue that is attached to the bottom of you mouth and the bottom of the tongue. Just look under your tongue and you'll see, yeah, I had that snipped. And since the surgeon is an oldtimer, he used a razor and stitches as opposed to a laser, which would have been so much less painful. I also had a very brief bout of writers block. So sorry this chapter is pretty short, I'm still thinking about what to do with it. Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. Motorcycles of Escaflowne 

**Chapter 5**

            "So I said to him…" Millerna chatted happily with Allen. "…And then that bastard said…"

            "Really… Oh… That's too bad…" Allen said now and then during Millerna's charming story. At the moment, he did not find himself totally immersed in Millerna's seductive wit and charm, in fact the girl was now immersing him almost to the point of boredom. If Millerna was another girl, then Allen would blew her off long ago and had even almost done so at one point. It was a good thing that Allen had that deep, unconscious instinct in his head that kept him from doing most of the idiotic things he could have done in the past. Allen followed this unconscious instinct by the nose, and this instinct cautioned him about his treatment of Millerna. Millerna was a girl that could have some- what was the word? –useful properties in the future. Such a girl should not be blown off so easily, for his own sake, he could stand Millerna's dumb chattering for the moment. It was useful to have someone like Millerna under your thumb.

            Allen sighed. Outwardly the sigh appeared to be a reaction to Millerna's no doubt heart wrenching story that would assure her that he was listening. Inwardly, it was sigh of anguish. 

            He was standing with the wrong girl. Millerna wasn't the girl he wanted to fulfill his flirtatious appetite with right now. The girl he wanted to enrapture was standing over there, next to that damn motorcycle…

            Allen gave another anguished sigh. He was having a bad week. Well, it started off just fine. Hitomi, the dazzling girl who hid her beauty away, the girl who shied away from others but in reality practically shouted out to all the bachelors of Gaea High to unravel her mystery and win her. And she was obviously painfully unaware of the attention; such innocence and naiveness was touching, no guy could resist her. She was the one girl Allen couldn't put his finger on: a challenge, and he liked challenges. For so long, Allen had kept an eye on her, despite his relationships, always looking for a clue, even a small gesture that would hint toward finding the key to her heart, or at least the hidden truth to Hitomi. And then that night, he, Allen Schezar, had witnessed Hitomi's incredible transformation, her metamorphous from a deeply colored caterpillar into a shimmering butterfly, a blinding miracle. The angel had even come to school with her hair cut: the boundary between her face and the world finally gone. She had thrown away the mist surrounding her face. It was truly a day to remember!

            And that was when the week turned bad.

            That stupid Van. Of course Hitomi would first turn her newly uncovered eyes toward that son of a bitch, Van and his motorcycles. Of course, Allen had then "accidentally" forgotten to return his motorcycle back to the Fanels in hopes of attracting Hitomi's attention as well. Hell, he had even bought the motorcycle from them just yesterday and dubbed his new bike Schezarade. But unfortunately the Schezarade had attracted all the girls but Hitomi. Hitomi was too infatuated with Van and his new Black Escaflowne to notice him.

            Damn it, it wasn't fair. Why Van? Allen knew just as much about motorcycles as Van, if he didn't than at least he knew enough to please Hitomi! He was the more handsome, more charming, more popular…he had it all! But Hitomi never turned his way! 

            It also didn't help that Allen was two years older than Van, thus losing to a little sophomore.

            Allen let his mind ponder this as he feigned active interest in Millerna's little story. His thoughts drifted back to that Friday night and he relived the memory of Hitomi arching her long, pale neck back as she cut away the long chains attached to her head. Perhaps that was the root of the problem. Nodding to Millerna when she made a small witty remark, he concentrated on that night. What had gone wrong? Ah yes, now he knew. Van was the one who, after the trauma, had comforted her, in his own little way, and had taken her home. Allen had just stared at her, lost in the newly surfaced brilliance and too infatuated to say anything. So of course Hitomi would warm up to Van first.

            "It's so obvious," Allen said out loud to himself.

            "Yeah, I know! The answer was right in front of my nose the whole time!" Millerna agreed with him, finishing her story.

            Blinking slightly in confusion, Allen quickly regained his composure with a cheery wink. But a few moments later, his calm composure was once again challenged at the sight in the parking lot.

            Even Millerna turned around to see what the noise was about. There was Van and Hitomi, both standing at the looming presence of the Black Escaflowne. They had been chatting warmly with each other, the girl blushing shyly and boy beaming happily at his luck. It was a normal scene that Gaea High had been seeing for the past few days. Nothing terribly unusual.

            Until Hitomi did something totally unexpected.

             Hitomi kissed Van.

            At school.

            In the parking lot.

            Out in the open.

            _Hitomi kissed Van!_

            It had just been a gentle brush of the lips, not intense making-out, nothing remotely impressive had this taken place between another couple. Yet it still caused a tremor to pass chillily through the crowd.

            And Van, bastard he was, had merely grined in spite of himself when Hitomi had shyly pulled away. He looked like he wanted to continue kissing Hitomi but wisely did not. Hitomi then boldly moved her arm through his and they both walked into the school building, both unnoticing the stares and the murmurs that suddenly came up around them.

            Allen bristled with anger. Fuck that Van, he thought angrily. Fuck you Van. 

Hitomi should have been my girl!

            "Well, would you look at that," Millerna remarked, voice surprised as they watched Van and Hitomi walk arm and arm away.

            "Right. Look Millerna, I'll see you later," Allen said briskly and abruptly walked away. This was turning out to be a very bad day.

            Maybe he would have given up on Hitomi right there, but then he wouldn't be Allen Schezar. It wasn't too late for Hitomi. Allen was certain for sure that Hitomi really liked him, she just didn't know it yet.

            _Sorry Van_, he said mentally, _you're a good guy but this is one thing I won't let you down on_. Van really was a good guy. He was, after all, the younger brother of Folken Fanel, a good friend of Allen's.

            At math, Allen's spirits lifted. This was a class he and Hitomi shared. Now would be a good a time as any to woo her away.

            As Allen entered the classroom, he stopped by the teacher's desk, which was now empty as the teacher had not arrived yet.

            "Well well," Allen murmured to himself. It looked like the teacher was planning a seat change today. "And what is this?" Allen fingered the seating chart, complete with the class names all on their own little post-it notes, a mischievous smile forming on his face. Calmly, he located his post-it and efficiently switched it to a seat on the right of Hitomi's post-it. As an afterthought, Allen switched all the post-it notes around his note so only girls surrounded him and Hitomi. There, that took care of any pathetic rivals for the moment.

            He sauntered casually over to his desk as the teacher walked in and announced the seating change. Allen smirked as some guys looked over at him in jealousy at his good seat.

            "Man, Schezar gets all the luck," a jock nearby seethed to his friend. His friend agreed and they both threw looks of envy in his direction.

            Hitomi, to his disappointment, did not bat an eyelash when she discovered that she sat next to Allen. Demure and regale as ever, she had merely gracefully slid into her new seat and folded her hands calmly over the desk, not caring it seemed.

            Oh well. That could be changed in the future.

            Allen slunk back in his chair, elbow leaning on the desk behind him, head notched at an angle well-positioned for eyeing his favorite girl, legs casually relaxed, head resting on a loose fist. A corner of his mouth tilted up and he half-closed his eyes to give them a dreamy yet mischievous gleam. This was his sexy pose that included his irresistible charm that girls loved. He aimed all that charm toward Hitomi. No doubt the charm would hit all the other girls around him, but that was just an added bonus. Allen sank comfortably in his position and patiently waited for her reaction.

            Hitomi placed her chin in her cupped hand and tried to ignore the people around her. She was uncomfortably aware of the staring coming at her from all directions, most of these stares came from jealous girls. Why they were jealous Hitomi didn't know. Shifting nervously, Hitomi especially tried to ignore the gazes of Allen from her right. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, Allen was only looking at her. He looked like he was striking a pose for heavens sake. 

            What did I do deserve all this attention? Hitomi wondered. Then her thoughts floated over Van's face. Today she had bundled up her nerve and kissed him, in return for last night's kiss. They were just talking like normal, well Van was normal, Hitomi was a bundle of shyness. And they were standing so close together and there was Van's face, just floating above her. And then, Hitomi just looked up at him and kissed him, surprising herself and Van. She had pulled back quickly, afraid of Van's reaction but she had sighed in relief when Van smiled at her. It seemed to be the most natural thing after that to link her arm through Van's and they headed inside the school building together. They then had to part to their separate lockers unfortunately, which was well because people had begun to stare openly at them.

            At this point in her reminiscing, Hitomi realized that she was smiling like an idiot. She moved her hand over her smile, amused at the sight she was probably making: a girl staring into nothing and smiling carelessly. 

            "Kanzaki, what's the answer to problem 5?" The teacher called out.

            Hitomi removed her hand from her mouth. "2x2," she answered clearly.

            "Correct."

            Hitomi resettled herself and cautiously swiveled her eyes to the right. Damn it, why he is _still _looking at me? she thought at the sight of Allen's gaze. She sighed in both frustration and boredom and her head sank down onto a pillow of her arms. This was going to be a long period.

            Allen frowned disappointedly. As far as he could tell, Hitomi had almost no reaction to attention, minimal reaction if any. Although at one point she had started smiling but Allen was not desperate enough so as to assume that she was smiling because of him. He had thought for a moment that she had glanced over in his direction but as she then put her head down in her arms, that was probably not it.

            _Hard to get_¸ Allen reasoned to himself. He looked away from her tapped his desk impatiently. _It's not fair_, he thought to himself. Why of all girls did Hitomi have to be the one who ignored him? It was all Van's fault of course. Allen was smart enough to tell that Hitomi was too enamored with Van to notice his attentions. And she was the innocent type, which made it all worse: that meant she was probably more devoted to Van then usual.

            Allen gritted his teeth and willed the clock to move faster. When the clock refused to answer his demands, Allen clenched his teeth. Math was such a bore, and there was still half an hour until lunch.

            Allen put his head on his arms as well. _Life is so cruel_, he thought depressingly to himself.

**A/N First, just to clear up one issue, Allen is a senior and Hitomi is a sophmore, but they're in the same class. How you ask? Well let's just assume that Hitomi is really good at math and is taking math at a level two grades ahead, therefore she is taking senior level math. Thus she is in the same math class as the seniors. **

**Second, I'm going to try to finish this story before school starts, which is in September. So I predict that this story has about 3-5 more chapters to go, but don't hold me to that. **

**And third, what anime should I do for my next fanfic? See my bio for details of the story.**


	6. And the Flame Ignites

A/N OMG it's been so long, again! I'm really sorry guys. I'm having trouble with this story. I've almost run out of ideas for it. I can't believe myself. I'm so ashamed. Well here's another. Some fluff and the reappearance of Dilandau. Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. Motorcycles of Escaflowne 

**Chapter 6**

            "We must be getting popular," Yukari commented from Amano's lap. 

It was finally lunch. Incidentally, Van had joined Hitomi at her usually lunch spot. And amazingly, he sat down next to her and had no intention of leaving. Yukari had stared. For years it had only been Yukari and Hitomi eating lunch together. Then Amano came along and joined their merry little group. A newcomer of Van's popularity was a new sight.

"Wah?" asked Hitomi.

"Isn't that my brother walking toward us?" Amano guessed, squinting.

As one, Hitomi and Yukari snapped around to look. It was, indeed, Allen walking with a purposeful step toward their little lunch group. Allen casually sauntered up and sat down next to Hitomi, making Van narrow his eyes.

"Mind if I barge in?" Allen asked with a dazzling smile directed mainly at Hitomi.

Amano rolled his eyes. "You're just being polite because there's ladies around," he retorted to his twin. 

"Can I help it if I am a gentleman?" Allen shot back.

Here, both Amano and Van laughed and snorted, respectively.

"Keep telling yourself that, Allen," Van said, slipping an arm around Hitomi when Allen kept on smiling at her.

"What's so funny?" Hitomi asked. She shifted nervously at Van's arm at her waist but found that she didn't mind it at all and relaxed.

"Well, Hitomi, these guys here are just jealous of my chivalrous ways," Allen explained gallantly to her. He aimed his charm toward Hitomi and shot out his smile at double power when he noticed Van's arm.

Amano started to cough but for some reason the word "fake" slipped out of his lips.

            Hitomi smiled amusedly as Amano and Allen began to bicker. This was certainly a very strange day. But it was strange in a _good _way of course. For one thing there were more people than ever here at their lunch place. That had to be a good change right?

            "Ah, brotherly love," she commented as Amano stuck up his middle finger at his twin.

            Van chuckled as Allen in turn told Amano to stick it up in a highly inappropriate place near his buttocks while Yukari in the meantime rolled her eyes.

            "Oh yeah, you can see it in their eyes. It's just amazing," he replied good-naturedly.

            "What was that Fanel?" Allen snarled.

            Hitomi blinked at the strange fierceness in Allen's voice. The change in the atmosphere around Allen was surprising. She'd seen them hanging out together at times, which meant they were friends right? So why was Allen glaring daggers at Van? It was as if Allen was challenging Van.

            Van notched up an eyebrow at this challenge. He wasn't exactly sure what he had done to Allen this time, but then again Allen pissed him off most of the time. It wasn't as if Van talked to the blonde hotshot because he enjoyed his company. Plus Van didn't like the looks that Allen was directing to Hitomi.

            _They guy never learns_, he thought. Didn't he see the kiss Hitomi had given him, note that, _him, _this morning?

            "Nothing," Van replied to Allen's challenge, eyebrow rising higher. "I was just commenting on the amount of politeness you show to your brother."

            It wasn't really an insulting comment, but for some reason Allen seemed annoyed. He narrowed his eyes and put on a look that said since-I'm-better-than-you-anything-you-say-doesn't-matter.

            Hitomi frowned at this look. Noticing the frown, Allen immediately switched gears and smiled at her. Incidentally, Van sighed and sneakily tightened his arm around Hitomi, which coincidentally moved her closer to him. Hitomi gave a small start but then relaxed, leaning against Van. 

            Van looked up at Allen to see his reaction. As he had hoped, a small grimace flashed briefly across his handsome face but he covered it up quickly. 

            "If you excuse me ladies," he said, standing up. Allen bowed to Yukari and Hitomi, winking as they giggled, and left the group.

            "Wonder what's wrong with him?" Amano thought out loud.

            "What do you mean by that?" Yukari asked.

            Amano shrugged. "Allen just seemed a bit. . . how do I put it. . .troubled about something," he replied.

            "Oh I'm sure it's nothing," Van remarked. "He probably just remembered that Millerna has cheerleading practice at lunch today and he went to meet her before the other guys show off."

            "Oh yeah."

            Allen bristled as he stalked around the school. He was furious and he walked quicker to burn off the energy. Damn that Van! For the umpteenth time this day, Allen sincerely hoped that Van would go to hell or someplace just as bad. He detested the way Van arrogantly held Hitomi in his arms and the way Hitomi never protested. That was part of it as well: Hitomi simply didn't notice his charms but had all eyes for Van's inferiority. 

            Allen felt so angry that he never noticed a certain silver haired guy heading right toward him. As a result, there was a brief collision and both guys smacked and stumbled back.

            "What the fuck was that for?" the silver haired guy snarled.

            "It was your fault! You should have watched where you're going!" Allen hissed. He shook his blonde hair out of his face to meet the sparking red eyes of Dilandau. "Oh, it's you," he sneered.

            Dilandau narrowed his eyes. Nobody knew but Dilandau and Allen had a most peculiar past together. It all started when Dilandau and his twin sister Celena were orphaned and separated. Allen's family had then adopted Celena but a year later they were told that she had a brother who had just recently been adopted. Allen could remember the day Celena and Dilandau had met for the first time since their adoption. Dilandau had glared at his sister's family, as if he couldn't believe such a family as them would _dare_ claim Celena as one of them. But the Schezars greeted him with welcome arms. From then on, Dilandau was considered part of the family, although they didn't adopt him, he was more of a cousin. Amano had accepted Dilandau as an indirect member of their family but Allen still had trouble believing that his sweet natured little sister was related to that maniac. Neither had ever been on good terms with each other from then on. 

            Dilandau picked himself off the ground and brushed himself off grumpily. "Don't make me pissed, Schezar. That Kanzaki girl already makes me want to burn something," he snarled dangerously.

            Allen frowned, standing up. "Hitomi Kanzaki?" he asked.

            "As a matter a fact, yes. Don't see why you should care anyway." Dilandau looked to the side for any approaching teachers, found none, then flicked out a lighter and made flames, on and off. "Burn, burn," he murmured to himself, starting to walk off.

            Allen stopped himself from shuddering and followed him. This was something Allen usually tried to avoid but on the subject of Hitomi he'd even talk to Dilandau nicely.

            "What did Hitomi do to you?" he asked catching up with him.

            Dilandau swiveled his eyes to the side, glowering. The lighter flames kept coming. "What's it to you, blondie?" he asked. Allen then promptly listed all the reasons why Hitomi was the most innocent creature on the earth and her beauty and her…

            "Shut up," Dilandau hissed. 

Allen did so, eyeing his lighter cautiously. In his many clashes with Dilandau, one thing Allen had learned was that Dilandau was not someone to take lightly, especially if he was in possession of a lighter.

By now, it was apparent that Allen was not going to let him off. Dilandau growled at the thought of spending more time in this idiot's company and relented slightly.

"You were there that night, weren't you?" he asked. With a flick of his wrist, the flame grew higher. With another flick, he put it out, and flicked the fire out again. "I was just poking fun at her. I couldn't resist. It's a rare thing to get a girl like Kanzaki out in the open like that. I was just playing when I took the knife out on her. But then she took it and then…well, you know what happened afterward. She cut that shitty hair of hers and scared us off."

Allen raised his eyebrow. They were now leaning on the wall next to a row of lockers. People passing by started to smile at the sight of Allen but then noticed Dilandau and hurried away for fear of their lives.

There was a sudden loud clang as Dilandau slammed his fist into the locker beside him, creating a large dent on the metal. "That bitch took away my reputation! After that night I couldn't face up to any of my gang! They all laughed at me, sayin' even a little girl like Kanzaki could beat me. Nobody respects me anymore. And with Kanzaki and that haircut strutting around next to that Fanel bastard…" The locker next him was starting to collapse. "I hate that bitch, I hate her guts," Dilandau muttered darkly.

Allen concentrated on the lighter in Dilandau's hand. Up went the flame, and then down. "If you ask me, it's Fanel that's the bitch, not Hitomi," he said carefully.

Dilandau swiveled his eyes over to him suspiciously. "So?" He flicked out cigarette and lit it. He sucked in on the cancer stick and blew out the smoke, which coincidentally puffed into Allen's face. Dilandau looked at Allen and dared him to protest.

Allen sighed. "Look at us here," he said.

" 'Us?'" Dilandau challenged. "Do me a favor and exclude me from your company."

"We're both miserable," Allen continued. "And the misery all spawned from the same night. And we both hate someone who was there that night."

"Don't compare me to you, asshole," Dilandau snarled, blowing at smoke in angry puffs.

Allen patiently waved away the fumes.

"I have an idea," he told Dilandau.

**A/N Just to let you know, I don't know when the next update will be as I'm busy with summer homework that I've been putting off. Plus I start school next Tuesday so when that happens I really don't know when I can update. I think I'll start updating weekly, like during the weekend or something, but don't hold me to that. If you're lucky I'll suddenly come up with inspiration and write another chapter. It helps if you review, then I'll feel guilty about letting you down and quickly write another chapter or something ^_^;**


	7. Rapidfire

A/N I'm back! Sorry for the delay, school happened. I hate high school. So, here's the next chapter. This is my apology to Dilandau fans for making him seem like the bad guy. I like this chapter actually, hope you do too!

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne. Motorcycles of Escaflowne 

**Chapter 7**

            It was a simple plan, _excruciatingly_ simple in Dilandau's opinion but that was because he enjoyed degrading any idea that happened to be thought up by Allen, but it was simple never the less, possibly even cliché. 

The idea was for Dilandau to get his revenge from Hitomi and for Van to be publicly humiliated. All needed to do was for Dilandau to exercise his violent energy upon Hitomi, who would most certainly be "rescued" by Van, but too bad for him because Dilandau was absolutely certain he could squash Van into a pulp as he was not on his favorite list as well. When he was finished with Fanel, Dilandau could finally satisfy himself and proceed to bruising Hitomi a bit. But then lo and behold, Allen would come in and "save" Hitomi. If all went well, Hitomi would despise Van for not rescuing her and embrace her new hero, Allen. 

            The results would be good. Dilandau would see Hitomi getting what she deserved and Allen would see Van with a sufficiently lowered ego and would conveniently have a new girlfriend.  

            "Agreed?" asked Allen.

            Dilandau narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You don't really love Hitomi, do you?" he asked.

            Allen blinked in surprise at the sudden uncharacteristic depth of Dilandau's question. "Excuse me?" 

            "There's a catch isn't there?" Dilandau said, easily leaning on the crumpled locker. "Come on, barbie, admit it. You're screwing with me. I know how you think. Once you 'save' Hitomi you're gonna start on me, as if you could beat in a fight. Besides, if you really loved the bitch that much you wouldn't want her to get hurt." His lighter suddenly flared up again.

            Allen gaped at Dilandau. What right did that bastard have to accuse him of such a thing? _Why _would he think such a thing? Dilandau was the last person in the world who would know anything about love. 

            "You're a dumbass, Dilly," Allen said, mischievously using Celena's pet name for her brother. "And besides, what do you know about love?"

            Dilandau flicked his burnt cigarette to the ground and took out another one. "You should be asking yourself the same question," he shot back, voice unusually serious.

            "What the fuck are you talking about, Dilly? Oh never mind, I can't believe I'm having a conversation about love with _you _all of people," Allen muttered.

            Dilandau took a long, slow drag out of the smoke. He suddenly looked solemn, almost sad, in an eerily calm way. "The truth is, Schezar, you've never really loved someone before. Just look at your dating life, you can't keep a girl for more than three months without feeling up some other slut. You don't really love Hitomi, if you did you'd protect her from me, not that I would mind going along with this plan, but you're perfectly willing for her to get hurt. Admit it, Barbie, you just like the bitch for her reputation and her ass."

            Allen bristled in a mixture of anger and disbelief. He opened his mouth to protest and declare his love for Hitomi but Dilandau spoke first.

            "Now me, there are only two people I've ever loved and one of them is dead," Dilandau remarked, breathing out smoke, making the air foggy.

            "You? Love? Right, sure. And who are they?" Allen asked sarcastically.

            "Jajuka, my late father, killed in a gunfight, and Celena, my sister, now living in that shit hole of a house you Schezars have," Dilandau answered.

            "Hey! You can't-" Allen protested. But he stopped at the look of pure hatred that Dilandau gave him.

            "If anything ever happened to Celena, I'd kill whoever ruined her life with my own bare hands. I'm only sorry that I couldn't save her from living with the likes of _you_," he told him coldly.

            Allen almost started laughing at the sudden seriousness in Dilandau's voice. "My god, Dilly boy, I could have sworn you were acting normal," Allen sneered.

            Dilandau eyed him with the same eerie calm. "If you ever cared for anyone besides yourself you would understand," he said quietly. 

            Allen laughed. "Are you mocking me, Dilandau? _You _mocking _me? _Oh this is precious! Somebody as low as you dissing me?" He guffawed loudly at the scenario, glancing at Dilandau for his reaction.

Dilandau unusually kept his calm, face bland. He merely tossed the cigarette down, making an effort to land the smoking stick on Allen's shoe.

            Allen yelped. His shoe had caught on fire. 

Dilandau cackled unsympathetically at Allen's efforts to put out the flame. He gave a last bang on the locker beside him and grinned manically as it crumpled to the floor. Pushing himself off the wall, Dilandau flicked open his lighter and brought the flame close to Allen's face warningly.

Allen swallowed and held as still as possible, eyes locked onto Dilandau's face. "Whoa, whoa, what's with _you_," he demanded.

"I don't need anyone to help me get revenge, especially not from a Barbie like _you,_ Allen Schezar. If I want revenge, I'm getting it _my _way," Dilandau snarled in a low, dangerous tone. "Just because Celena is your sister too doesn't mean you can order me around. Nobody, you hear that? _nobody _tells me what to do. Keeps this in mind: the only reason I haven't knocked out your insides is because it would depress Celena. But even that might not save your guts if I'm pissed enough." 

Dilandau brought the flame within a dangerous inch of Allen's nose. Allen froze completely, trying not to look at the flame as it waved this way and that.

"So don't push your luck," he snarled. Dilandau put out the flame with a click. With a last smirk, Dilandau turned around and walked away.

"You bastard, just trying to help," Allen called after him. 

Dilandau responded by sticking up his middle finger up in the air. 

Sighing in exasperation, Allen shook his head. Oh well. Dilandau was just a stupid bastard. He didn't know what he was turning down.

And what was that shit about love? What the hell did Dilandau, of all people, know about love? How dare he accuse Allen! Of course Allen loved Hitomi! He just didn't mind doing whatever it took to get what he wanted.

The bell rang and Allen walked off, winking or smiling to girls around him.

Hitomi shifted uncomfortably on her desk. There was a substitute teacher but apparently the sub had no idea whatsoever what they were supposed to do. So the 5th period was declared a study hall. Hitomi didn't mind that at all so she had settled down with a book about motorcycles that Van had lent her. But no matter how absorbed she was in the book, it was still extremely difficult to ignore the stares coming her way.

Finally, Hitomi glanced up. In the desks in front of her, a group of assorted girls glared at her.

"Um…hi?" she said awkwardly. 

The brunette girl sitting in the desk directly in front of her smirked at her uncertainty and leaned over, propping an elbow on Hitomi's desk.

"Kanzaki," she said, "how are you?"

"Fine…"

"And how's Van?"

Hitomi frowned at this abrupt question. Her eyes flicked around at the other girls, who were now either sneering or glaring at her. They began to prick on her nerves.

She shrugged. "What about Van, Ellyn? Last I saw he was perfectly fine too," Hitomi replied dryly.

"Oh I'm sure you found him fine, very fine indeed," Ellyn said sarcastically.

"Oh please." A redhead girl named Kelly next to Ellyn leaned over to Hitomi. "Let's not beat around the bust, shall we Hitomi? Are you and Van a couple or not?" she spat.

Hitomi raised an eyebrow. "I suppose we are," she answered placidly, successfully keeping her annoyance out of her voice.

"Since when?" Kelly challenged.

"Why does it matter to you?" Hitomi asked coldly. "It's none of _your_ business."

"Oh, well." Kelly smirked. "We just want to know the welfare of our fellow student-"

" 'Fellow student' my ass," Hitomi snapped coldly. "I haven't spoken to any of you in my life. What's the real reason?"

Ellyn narrowed her eyes. She opened her mouth to snarl but Kelly stopped her.

"Oh, Hitomi," Kelly sighed wistfully. "You've changed so much this past week but you're still as naïve as ever. Here's the bottom line, Kanzaki: stay away from Van Fanel."

Hitomi almost laughed out loud. "So that's _it_?" she asked incredulously. She stared at Kelly, the ringleader, with a look of disbelief. It was such a _simple_, no that wasn't the word, _petty_, it was so _petty _a reason to get worked up on! "I'm really amazed," she remarked. "You're ganging up on me over a _guy_?" 

Ellyn snarled and leaned forward. "You really don't know anything, bitch," she hissed.

"A little mouse like _you_ doesn't deserve Van," Kelly spat. "None of us," she gave a toss toward the rest of the group, "could ever even make him glance our way-"

"-And we're supposed to believe that Van fell for little, squeaky Hitomi Kanzaki," Kelly finished. "Wouldn't you find that hard to accept?"

"What did you do, slut?" another girl hissed.

"Did you let him feel you up?" said a girl to the side.

"Went down his pants?"

"Sucked his cock?"

Hitomi slammed her fist down with a loud smack. "I don't _believe_ this shit," she said voice a deadly calm, face dark. "Do your really think that? Do you?" she barked. 

The girls flinched, briefly taken back for a moment. Hitomi cut in before they could talk.

"If you really think I would act like a whore, well, it takes one to know one right?" she snapped, eyeing Kelly and Ellyn. "But I didn't, and I know you'll believe that, because I'm not like that."

"Well nobody knows the truth about Hitomi Kanzaki anymore, do they?" Ellyn challenged. "One day she's a little mouse and then next she hacks her hair off."

Hitomi snorted at this comment. "What?" she asked innocently. "Am I not allowed to cut my hair if I want to? And really," she added. "Do you honestly think Van is the kind of guy who would fall for cleavage? Are you telling me that you really think I had to flash him or something in order to get him to notice me?"

She paused to give the girls a long, cynical stare and smirked as they wiggled under her gaze.

"What right do you bitches have to order me to stay away from Van? _I _should be the one telling _you _to keep away, _I_'m his girlfriend, but I won't because I am really too polite for my own good sometimes. And on top of that, you accuse me of being a slut and at the same time you imply that Van would fall for it." Hitomi lounged back in her chair and sighed.

"I don't really care what you call me, but don't you ever dare degrade Van, not in front of me. And what's even more amazing is that you're complaining that Van will never look at you and that I don't deserve him. What do you know? You don't know Van _at all_. _None of you deserve half the guy Van is!_"

Hitomi stopped to take a breath but paused. She turned her head slightly to the side. 

The whole classroom had gone quiet, all suddenly frozen midway in their actions. Even the substitute teacher had frozen holding a pen, poised above the paper. You couldn't really blame them. It was a real sight to Hitomi Kanzaki speaking two whole sentences, let alone a whole rant. Most of the class now had their mouths hanging open with a small gap. But they cringed when Hitomi opened her mouth in a brief snarl.

_"What are you looking at?" _Hitomi snarled in a low voice.

There was a brief sequence of shuffling and twitching and suddenly the class was absorbed in completely different activities. 

Hitomi returned her gaze to the offending girls, who had shocked, embarrassed looks on their faces. Kelly's eyes were widened in surprise and Ellyn's bottom lip quivered nervously. Hitomi's mouth twitched in amusement, she had never expected herself to ever come off as intimidating. 

With a sigh, Hitomi flipped open her book again and relaxed. She placed a finger on her place and her eyes flicked up again. She made a point to catch the gaze of each and every one of the offending girls.

"What? Do you _still _have a problem?" she snapped.

They all quickly twirled around and rearranged themselves into their own separate group, away from Hitomi. Ellyn trembled, nervous at sitting in the desk directly in front of Hitomi's. Hitomi glared at Ellyn's back for a moment then turned back to her book, reading as though she weren't interrupted.

Hitomi felt extremely satisfied by the end of the period. She had reached the halfway point of the book. She also felt a proud swelling of accomplishment. It had felt _good _ranting at those girls. To Hitomi's shock, she had liked it. No surprise there. She had rarely ever been given the chance to let it all out before. Their accusations had just grinded on her nerves until she exploded.

She smiled cheerfully at the sight of Van leaning against the row of lockers outside her classroom. Hitomi repressed the urge to smirk pointedly toward Kelly and her gang and sauntered up to him. Van grinned lazily back and kissed her on the cheek before sliding an arm around her waist.

"You look happy," he remarked.

"Do I?" asked Hitomi, grinning widely. "I didn't notice."

**A/N So, what do you think? I admit, Hitomi may have been a little OOC but I couldn't resist a small rant. Please Review!**


	8. Track Wind

**A/N Wow, I haven't updated this story for so long. I'm so sorry to people who've been waiting! I've probably lost all my former readers…I'll just hope people start reading this. School is just such a (beep). High school sucks, but oh well. Okay, so here's the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne. Do not sue me.**

**Chapter 8**

The sun blazed down, beating mercilessly on the world below. A sweet wind countered the sun and gleefully whistled around the souls on the ground. The souls standing on the ground that is.

"Whooooooooooo!"

Folken glanced up from his afternoon stroll. Well, not exactly a stroll but more like a very brisk walk. A walk that just happened to be going in the opposite direction of the main building of the Escaflowne Motorcycles Company headquarters, which just happened to be where Folken's uncle, Balgus, was currently sitting in his office, fuming from their recent shouting match.

Folken stopped, smoothed back some wind-ruffled hair and turned his head. In front of him was one of the many motorcycle tracks of Escaflowne Motorcycles, used for test-driving vehicles. This particular one was rarely used due to the fact that it was reserved for the Fanel family and guests' private use. 

He stepped up to the railing of the track and observed. 

There was a rapidly moving black streak of color zipping around the circular track. Atop this black streak of color were two smears of blue jeans and two sweat-streaked shirts of green and white. Over the white and green were two manes of unruly black and sandy blonde hair secured under two black helmets. 

Folken heard a brief shriek as the motorcycle passed by that was hurriedly cut off as it zoomed away. Smiling pleasantly to himself, Folken crossed his arms and leaned against the railing. He instinctively identified the motorcycle as the Black Escaflowne, which meant that the driver was his little brother Van. He couldn't identify the rider sitting behind Van, but he could guess. It was most probably Hitomi Kanzaki, that girl his brother had been dreaming about in a daze for the past week.

Waving amicably at a few passing employees, Folken leaped the railing and walked out onto the middle of the track.

Hitomi gasped at the rush of adrenaline to her head as she clutched Van's waist. She leaned her head back, loving every moment as the motorcycle tugged at the laws of gravity, accelerating round and round…

"Faster, faster!" she screamed over the motor.

Van responded with a vroom of the handle and obliged. 

Hitomi laughed delightfully as the bike pulled them through the air. Here, right here at this moment, Hitomi felt lighter than the air. She felt unstoppable, unbeatable. She could feel the danger and speed right in the marrow of her bones, passing through her body and into her blood.  This was where she reveled, here riding the motorcycle, sitting behind Van; this was right where she belonged.

Sighing, Van kept himself from swooning at Hitomi's arms him and told himself that he'd crash if he wasn't careful. He had obliged to Hitomi's gleeful requests and they were now riding at a neck-breaking speed. The danger of this speed didn't worry him in the least. In fact, he thought they weren't going fast enough. But out of respect for Balgus and his cautionary lectures on motorcycle safety, Van didn't accelerate more and kept at this moderate speed.

            Van was one happy camper. He had offered Hitomi a visit to the Escaflowne headquarters. He smiled in memory of the happiness that burst into her eyes as she accepted eagerly. It had been fun showing her around the company. Van had decided not to give Hitomi the customary tour and brought her into the restricted areas of the company. It didn't matter that he would have gotten severe consequence had he been caught. The sight of Hitomi's admiring smiles was worth any risk. The real treat for Hitomi was the rows and columns of Escaflowne motorcycles, all neatly lined up and ready to be shipped for sale. Van had taken some of the more impressive ones out to the private track and they proceeded to test driving them. Of course, none of them measured up to the Black Escaflowne of which they rode in the end.

            Out of the corner of his eye, Van caught sight of Folken, standing in the little island in the middle of the track. He would have raised a hand to him but that would have sent him and Hitomi crashing into the wall. Instead, he nodded his head to his brother and slowed down.

Folken raised an eyebrow in amusement at Hitomi's protests as Van pulled over to the side. He watched Van point at his direction and Hitomi glance over and freeze as her vivacious expression melted into meekness. Folken chuckled softly to himself. So this was the famous Hitomi Kanzaki. Quiet as a mouse one moment and loud as a tiger the next. And apparently she liked motorcycles. Folken silently approved of Van's new girlfriend. His previous girls had all been the giggly types; Van had dropped them almost immediately, going through a whole string of short relationships. Hopefully this one would last longer.

Van slipped off Hitomi's helmet before taking off his own and slipped a hand around her own. He led her toward Folken, squeezing her hand reassuringly, as Hitomi was still extremely shy around strangers.

Hitomi looked up at Folken's brother, took in his dyed sapphire hair and bright eyes, and smiled nervously. 

Folken grinned gently back. "You're Hitomi, I presume?" he asked in a deep baritone voice.

"Uh, yeah," Hitomi said shyly. She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you," she said politely.

Folken took her hand and shook it briefly. "I'm Folken, Van's brother if you haven't guessed already. So, have you shown her the company, Van?" he asked, turning to his brother.

"The uncensored version," Van answered, grinning.

"And I see you've raided the storage rooms again," Folken noted, looking at the motorcycles.

"I had to show Hitomi the best of the crop," Van said, shrugging.

Hitomi elbowed Van playfully. "I still think the Black Escaflowne was the best," she said, smiling. 

"I'm just giving the other motorcycles a fair shot. I can't help it that the Black Escaflowne is in a completely higher league," Van boasted. Hitomi giggled.

A light grin touched Folken's face. 

"By the way, Van, that custom-made model you requested has just arrived," Folken said.

Van's eyes lit up. "Really? When?" he asked eagerly.

"Just now actually. You owe me a favor by the way. I gave directions to deliver it here myself," Folken told him. 

He nodded toward the railing. There, a sleek, silver motorcycle stood propped up against the fence. 

Van grinned eagerly at Hitomi in anticipation, squeezing her hand. He dashed up to the silver motorcycle, circling and observing it with a critical eye. Hitomi followed him.

"What's this?" she asked.

"You'll see," Van murmured, swinging himself onto the seat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hitomi questioned suspiciously.

Van only winked at her before slipping on his helmet. "I'm going to test this for a few laps. Stand back," he warned. Hitomi stepped back hurriedly as Van revved up the engine and sped off around the track.

Hitomi walked back to the center of the track and watched with Folken as Van swerved on a curve. She turned her head slightly and shyly observed Folken beside her. His eyes were half closed, face raised up to the wind. He looked calm and at peace, so different from the active Van.

Sensing her stare, Folken sharply turned his head to her. Hitomi blushed in embarrassment at being caught and decided to break the silence.

"So why is Van so excited about that motorcycle?" she asked both politely and curiously.

Folken turned his head back to the track, the corners of his mouth raising slightly. "It's not my place to say," he said sheepishly. "Van will tell you later."

There was another brief awkward silence. Once again, Hitomi decided to break it.

"So, Van tells me you're going to inherit Escaflowne Motorcycles," she said. 

Folken didn't reply. He seemed to pause, body tightening, fist clenching.

Hitomi raised an eyebrow in bewilderment at this response. Wondering if she'd touched on a dangerous subject, she shrugged and went on.

"It must be a tough job your uncle has, managing the whole company. He must really trust you if he wants you to continue in his foot steps," she remarked.

Folken gave a dry laugh at this. "How much has Van told you about my inheritance? Has he mentioned my feelings about it at all?" he asked bitterly.

Then Hitomi remembered. _"Balgus says that Folken is like our father: he only works with motorcycles for the job, not for the sheer love of it," _Van had said.

"Oops," she murmured, mentally slapping herself. 

"Well?" asked Folken. "How much has he told you?"

Hitomi bit her lip at Folken's stoic expression. She sighed. The Fanel brothers were so different. 

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Van says that you don't want to inherit the company. I forgot that just now. I shouldn't have brought it up."

Folken seemed to accept her apology. He smiled bitterly. 

"You and Van seem very close," he commented as Van rounded a bend.

Hitomi ran a hand through her hair uncomfortably. "Um, yeah I guess," she murmured. She was awkward on this subject. She and Van were very close and Hitomi had never had this kind of relationship with anyone.

"You speak with uncertainty," Folken said.

"I do?" Hitomi asked in surprise. "I guess I am a little uncertain." She then eyed Folken suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

"I merely wanted to know why Van has been acting so happy for the past few weeks," Folken answered, eyebrow raised. "I suppose it's all thanks to you, Hitomi." His face turned into a look of concern. "What's the matter? Why are you trembling?"

Hitomi blinked and discovered that her bottom lip was indeed trembling. She held her lip still and laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, Folken. It's nothing personal. I'm…I'm extremely shy and I get nervous around people I've just met."

"Understandable. You didn't look very shy with Van just now," Folken remarked.

Hitomi moved her eyes to Van's circling form and smiled sheepishly. "You're right. Van's different."

"I see." 

Van hit the breaks to a stop a few yards away, cutting their strange conversation short. He flipped off his helmet, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"How is it?" Folken called.

"It's perfect!" Van shouted gleefully.

He dashed over to Hitomi and dragged her back to the silver motorcycle, laughing delightfully.

"What do you think of this motorcycle?" he asked her eagerly.

"Um," Hitomi murmured looking it over. 

"Do you like it?" Van asked.

Hitomi observed the motorcycle's sleek, agile features. She swung a leg over the seat and settled herself in. 

"It's really comfortable," she remarked in surprise.

"That's because it's custom made," said Van. "Well?"

"I love it!" said Hitomi.

"Then it's yours."

Hitomi swung around, mouth gaping open. "What?" she repeated.

"As of today, this motorcycle belongs to you, Hitomi Kanzaki," Van announced.

"Really?" Hitomi asked in wonder, grinning like crazy.

"Do I ever lie to you?" Van asked. "I ordered it custom made for you, so you better enjoy-  mmph!"

Folken watched with fond amusement as Hitomi smothered Van in hugs and kisses. He chuckled to himself briefly and walked away.

"Wait, I've never driven a motorcycle before. What if I crash it?" Hitomi was saying behind him.

"That's what I'm here for silly," Van replied.

Folken's chuckled turned into a laugh.

**A/N Jeez, this chapter was pointless. I'm sorry this chapter was so crappy. I was kinda desperate to make an update. I have a confession to make. I'm starting to run out of ideas with this story. It would be really helpful if you guys gave so ideas when you review. I might use them, I might now, but I really need some inspiration now. Oh yeah, and I'm starting a mailing list to notify people when I update. Email me if you want to join. Ja ne!**


	9. Dish Washing

**A/n Oh my gosh, I updated! Thank you so so so much to everyone who reviewed! And thank you to everyone who responded to my plea for ideas! I really appreciated them. It was a really big help for me! If I'm using your idea I'm sure you'll be able to recognize it. I hope you like this chapter.**

**/Standard disclaimer inserted here\**

**Chapter 9**

Hitomi, on her new motorcycle, slowly pulled off the side, Van following her suit on the Black Escaflowne. They had just reached Hitomi's house. Her brightened, energetic spirits dampened slightly as Hitomi remembered a certain woman inside her house.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Van said.

"What? Oh, yeah, see you." Hitomi gave Van a quick kiss on the lips and waved goodbye as he sped away.

She took a deep breath and walked her bike to the garage, pausing for a moment to open the door and then walking in.

Hearing the soft rumble of the motor and the sound of the door opening, Mrs. Kanzaki had hurried to the garage to see what was the matter. Hitomi cringed slightly at the sight of her mother's narrowed eyes as she spotted the motorcycle.

"What is _that_?" Mrs. Kanzaki said, spitting out the word.

Hitomi glanced down at her motorcycle as she leaned it against the wall. "Van gave it to me as a present," she explained briefly. "I'm calling it the Mystic. What do you think of it?"

Mrs. Kanzaki glowered at the Mystic irritably and walked away in a huff.

Hitomi sighed. Hitomi's grandfather had been a great lover of motorcycles as well and had passed this love down to her aunt. Somehow, this love did not transcend to her mom. Her aunt had endured many injuries due to motorcycle accidents in her youth. Thus, Hitomi's mom had grown up naturally fearing the motorcycle, which led to a deep mistrust in the beautiful vehicles. This mistrust was not helped by the fact that Hitomi's mom had fallen off on the first time on a motorcycle. 

Her reaction to Hitomi's new bike was actually not so bad. It could have been worse. At least she hadn't demanded her to leave the bike out of the garage. The trees outside were for some reason a popular hangout of all the local neighborhood birds; their droppings would be the death of her brand new Mystic.  

She took a deep breath as she entered the house. Maybe her mom was just in shock. She had always discouraged Hitomi from her fascination of motorcycles as a child. True, she had loved her sister, but Hitomi remembered seeing relief in her mom's eyes when she moved away, taking the motorcycle with her. 

Hitomi glanced around. Luckily her mom had gone back into kitchen. Good. She tiptoed softly across the living room and placed a foot on the stairs to her room. Then she paused and turned around.

Mrs. Kanzaki crossed her arms and sighed. Hitomi flinched. She had forgotten how quietly her mother could move.

"Let's go into the kitchen, shall we? You missed dinner so help me wash the dishes," Mrs. Kanzaki said in her normal cheery voice.

There was nothing Hitomi could do so she nodded. She followed her mother into the kitchen, watching her mother's back suspiciously. There was no way her mom could be so calm about the motorcycle. She had absolutely gone ballistic when Van started driving her back from track practice. She had pounced on Hitomi the moment she walked through the door, enquiring about her state of health ("Are you okay honey? No broken bones?") and warning her about the harmful possibilities ("That boy shouldn't ride at night. What if the cars don't see him and run him over?")

At least Mrs. Kanzaki hadn't protested very much to Van himself. To her profound relief, she had given Hitomi her reluctant approval to keep seeing Van. In fact, the approval was only reluctant on account of Van's motorcycle. Hitomi had managed to convince her out of that by reminding her that Van's father manufactured motorcycles and therefore Van was probably more than aware of all the dangers. Other than that minor detail, Mrs. Kanzaki adored Van. She had described him as "a darling gentleman I had never seen…if only he were not so reckless." Why was he reckless? "Well he rides a motorcycle doesn't he?"

Hitomi accepted a dirty plate from her mom and they both set to washing dishes. Hitomi could sense another mother-to-daughter discussion coming in and braced herself for the impact.

"You know, Hitomi, I'm getting very worried about you," Mrs. Kanzaki started.

Ah, there it was: the impact. The perfect way to start off a discussion and the guilt factor as well.

Hitomi decided to just get the problem out in the open. "It's about the Mystic isn't it?" she asked bluntly.

Mrs. Kanzaki wrinkled her nose slightly. It was a small wrinkle but Hitomi could still see it. She sighed in frustration.

"I can understand why you're so against motorcycles, but you don't really understand it at all!" Hitomi went on. 

"There's no need to raise your voice, Hitomi," Mrs. Kanzaki interrupted, firmly putting a stop to her rant. "You haven't listened to me yet."

Hitomi bit her lip sullenly. "Well, whatever you're going to say, don't make me take the Mystic back to Van, because I won't. I'm going to keep it."

There was a faint impression of another nose wrinkle as Mrs. Kanzaki blinked down at her daughter. " 'The Mystic?' Hitomi why do you give it a name? It's not alive; it doesn't breathe. It's just a motorcycle. A name implies affection and a motorcycle certainly does not give you back affection." Mrs. Kanzaki held up a hand as Hitomi opened her mouth to protest. "I don't want to turn this into another screaming match. We've had too much of those lately."

Hitomi pierced her lips. She and her normally calm and thoughtful mother hadn't been getting along lately, for obvious reasons. 

"I'm sorry, mom," Hitomi said, feeling slightly ashamed. Her mom's recent irritableness was all her fault. Her mother was an interior designer and one particularly annoying client of hers was wreaking havoc on her mother's nerves.

"I know you're not in the best of moods lately, but you just don't _get _it. Your methods to get me away from motorcycles _aren't _working," Hitomi continued, trying to keep the heat in her voice to a minimum. This conversation shouldn't have to be heated. Any other pair of mothers and daughters would treat it as regular, everyday talk. There was no need for it to be taken so seriously. In fact, as much as Hitomi loved them, motorcycles just didn't seem to be an argument with her mom. But Hitomi couldn't help it. She had to defend her side.

"Hitomi, I _do _know how much you interest you put into motorcycles. I was merely pointing out that you needn't name an inanimate object," Mrs. Kanzaki defended herself deftly. 

"It's not an 'interest,'" Hitomi said through gritted teeth. 

Mrs. Kanzaki turned her head and eyed Hitomi, her calm composure ruined slightly by the small twitch in the corner of her lips.

"All right then," she said. "Your _obsession_. Hitomi dear, this obsession is not _healthy_ for you."

"Healthy?" Hitomi repeated. "What do you mean _healthy_?" 

"Well it's all just a hobby to you isn't it? By next year you'll have your SATs and motorcycles will just fade away into the past. Hitomi, my dear, I assure you, this is just a phase in your life. You are a teen you know," Mrs. Kanzaki added.

Hitomi placed a clean dish onto the kitchen counter, resisting the urge to smash it on the tiled floor. She detested the way her mom had said _teen_, as if she were still just an immature child.

"Would you say the same thing if I told you would work with motorcycles one day?" Hitomi said quietly.

"Really, dear, be _realistic_. How on earth could you make a living with motorcycles," Mrs. Kanzaki said crisply.

"I could get a college degree in engineering and work on motorcycle design. Or I could be a salesgirl at an Escaflowne dealer shop," Hitomi responded. "Mom, I'm being _perfectly_ serious," she added, seeing the dubious look on her mom's face. "Van told me about the job opportunities. I could work at his dad's company during the summer."

"That's what Van says, hm? He certainly is becoming quite an influence on you…especially on motorcycles…"

"What? You're going to make me stop seeing him?" Hitomi asked bitterly. "It wouldn't work mom."

Mrs. Kanzaki rinsed a cup in exasperation. "Why must you be so rebellious against me? I never implied I would go between you and Van. I only said that he has an influence on your obsession with motorcycles. You know, you've only started showing an interest when you began dating him."

Hitomi gaped at her mom. "What are you talking about?" she shouted. "I've always loved motorcycles!"

"Have you?" her mom replied in surprise.

Hitomi gaped again. There was true, genuine surprise on her mom's features.

"How could you not know?" she demanded.

"Hitomi dear, you have had a great lack of communication, ever since your aunt moved away actually." Mrs. Kanzaki tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "It's only just recently that you've started to open up…since that night when you came home with your hair cut off." She glanced sideways at her daughter. "There's more to that night, isn't there?"

Hitomi bit her lip and stayed silent.

"Are you aware of how confused I am by that night? I hear the rumble of a motorcycle and then you walk into the door with all your beautiful hair chopped off! I didn't ask anything because I thought I'd find out what happened eventually. But apparently not." Mrs. Kanzaki placed a bowl onto the counter. "Honestly, you've started talking more these days but you are still such a quiet girl."

Hitomi looked down at the plate she was holding in her hands. Mrs. Kanzaki had a talent of incorporating the guilt factor into an argument without knowing it. It was true however, she had never actually confided in her mom what had happened the day she had sliced her hair short.

"You really changed after that," Mrs. Kanzaki continued. "You seemed so much _brighter_ and open. And then suddenly you started coming home on a motorcycle every day with Van instead of in Yukari's car. Hitomi dear, tell me, what was I _supposed _to think? Your sudden hair cut, your change of attitude, your abrupt obsession in motorcycles…" Mrs. Kanzaki trailed off and sighed.

Hitomi swallowed. The guilt factor was really intensifying now. In the middle of Mrs. Kanzaki's speech, she had wanted to throw the plate in her hands down to the floor. She would have enjoyed watching it smash into little chunks and pieces of porcelain. Now she didn't have the heart.

"I'm sorry mom," she said sullenly.

"Oh don't apologize to me, dear," Mrs. Kanzaki said, slinging an arm around her daughter's shoulders. "You were always a quiet child. There's no reason for me to expect you to change so rapidly. But there's no doubt that you have changed a little. Can you talk to me about it? What happened? Or rather, who should I thank?" she added, eyebrow raised.

Hitomi stared at her. What a question! "I suppose you could thank…Van," she said.

"Ah, I thought so," Mrs. Kanzaki said to herself.

The dishes were done. Mother and daughter both turned around and leaned against the counter. 

"About that motorcycle you brought back," Mrs. Kanzaki began.

"Yes?" Hitomi said nervously.

"You said that it was a present. Does that mean you are going to keep it in the garage for the rest of its days?"

"Of course," Hitomi answered in surprise. She repressed the urge to add, "Duh!" at the end of the sentence.

"And does that imply that you will be using it often?"

"Well, yes. I'll use to get school and back of course. Van can't give me rides forever."

Mrs. Kanzaki froze, her jaw clenched. "To school?" she asked breathlessly. "Everyday? Hitomi dear, isn't that a bit excessive?"

"Excessive? What do you mean excessive? You use your car everyday don't you? How is that different than me riding my motorcycle to school?"

"Cars, Hitomi dear, are much safer than motorcycles," Mrs. Kanzaki told her daughter.

"Mom you don't have to worry. I _know _about safety. I'll be _fine_," Hitomi assured her. At that moment she desperately wanted to leave this conversation into the haven of her room. She took a step forward as her mom opened her mouth.

"But you're only _fifteen _dear—"

Hitomi quickly gave a small peck on her mother's cheek, cutting off her protest. "Good _night _mom," she said in a clipped voice and stole out of the kitchen. She didn't want to have another argument. At the moment, Hitomi just wanted to sleep.

A/n Oh boy, now it's over. I loved writing Mrs. Kanzaki's dialogue. It's kind of late to say this now, but try imagining her speaking in a British accent, I think it fits perfectly. 

**Okay, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. I'm really sorry if you get impatient with me. Go to my bio for details on why I'm a slow updater. You could check out the new story I started 'Speak like a child' if you like. Please do actually, it's a very personal fanfic.**

**Please review! It gives me motivation!**


	10. No Satisfaction

**A/n Lookee here, I'm back! **

**Let's see how many people actually read this. I haven't updated this fanfic for so long… hm… Well I apologize for my long overdue update. This fanfic is just bugging me now. I tried to put some actual plot into this chapter. It's pretty short though so the plot is probably really insubstantial. Guh. Hopefully ff.net got the formatting right.**

******Well, enjoy.**

**********Disclaimer statement HERE**

Chapter 10

Mrs. Kanzaki shook her head as Hitomi swung a leg over the bike. Hitomi saw the shake out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it, pointedly showing her determination to ride the bike. At the same time, Hitomi was extremely relieved. At least Mrs. Kanzaki did not actually forbid her from riding the bike. The fact that her mom was verbally silent was all the acceptance and permission Hitomi was going to get.

It was nice a day and Hitomi thoroughly enjoyed riding on the Mystic. She lifted the helmet visor and grinned to herself as she passed house after house. The motorcycle was perfect. Van had obviously thought of her when he custom ordered this bike and Hitomi felt flattered once again. The seat was comfortable and adjusted to her preference, the gears and handles set closer to the seat. Hitomi was particularly glad of the handles. She was short and often had to stretch just to reach the handles.

The thing Hitomi really enjoyed about the ride was the sense and knowing that this motorcycle was _hers_. It was not a bike she had to borrow and return later. She would not have a feeling of loss when she parked the bike because she knew that she would be returning to it.

Hitomi giggled out loud and then laughed at herself for giggling. She finally had her own motorcycle! If she could Hitomi would have stood up on her motorcycle and danced.

Hitomi thought back to the days of longing for a motorcycle. The days when she longed to be something else. The days when a motorcycle represented everything she was not. Those were the days when she hid behind her hair, before Van…

"Thank god for Van," she mumbled to herself.

She was now only a few blocks away from school. By this time, Hitomi started noticing the stares directed toward her, or at least toward the Mystic.

For a moment, Hitomi felt like staring back at them. She wanted to strip away her polite image and be haughty and arrogant, just for a moment, and not worry that other people would call her a snob. Hell, she wanted to _be _asnob right then. She wanted that freedom of knowing that she was better than they were. _Yeah, look at me, _her stare would say, _yeah, I have a motorcycle now and you don't. Even if you have one, mine's an Escaflowne, so mine's better. What do you think of me now?_

Hitomi turned away from the stares as she drove into the student parking lot. What was the point of acting high and mighty? How much satisfaction would she get? Five minutes worth? Two minutes? Would it be worth it? No, Hitomi might feel wonderfully superior for a moment but her own personality would never let her feel satisfaction for it. She knew that after the five or two minutes the satisfaction would ooze out of her, leaving Hitomi humiliated about herself and ashamed.

She looked around for Van's bike but saw no sign of the Black Escaflowne. She sighed with a little disappointment and parked the bike by the lunch time tree. Hitomi had hoped to park next to Van to give him a little surprise but that was okay.

Slouching on the motorcycle seat, she slipped off her helmet and shook out her hair. She grinned as she realized that her hair was mussed and sweaty: helmet hair. Hitomi wiped her forehead with her shirtsleeve and ran her fingers through her hair.

_I wouldn't like to see myself now, _she thought to herself with amusement as she caught passerby's staring at her slick motorcycle and then staring at her.

A wad of spittle suddenly appeared at the head of the Mystic with a smack. Whirling Hitomi glared furiously at the quickly retreating back of Dilandau. She looked around for something on the ground to throw at him but a passing teacher made her stop.

Hitomi groaned and started to wipe the spit off with ends of her jeans.

"No, no…" she moaned as her wiping made the spit spread. "…shit." The spit was beginning to dry, leaving a small, darkened spot on her motorcycle. "Shit!" Hitomi repeated and kicked the pavement with frustration.

A hand appeared in her vision. The hand contained a polishing cloth.

Hitomi took the cloth and smiled at her benefactor gratefully.

"Thanks Folken," she said as she bent down to wipe the spit. "Yes!" she said in delight as the cloth wiped away the spit.

"Don't mention it," Folken replied to her first comment. "Dilandau's like that at times," he told her. "I'm not surprised he attacked your bike first. He's been up at the company complaining about how outdated his motorcycle is and how he wanted an upgrade. Or something like that."

"Wasn't he just bragging about his bike a couple of weeks ago?" asked Hitomi.

"Isn't the world strange," Folken said vaguely. "Van's a little late. He told me to tell you that," he added.

"Thanks," said Hitomi. "What's keeping him?"

"Overslept," Folken answered. He nodded good bye and left.

Hitomi wondered if Folken was always so vague but became distracted by a loud honking.

"Hi_to_mi!" someone called.

Hitomi turned around, laughing as she waved to Yukari.

"What the hell is that _thing _you're leaning on?!" she yelled across the parking lot as she stepped out of her car.

"Do you like it?" Hitomi screamed back.

"It looks like crap!" Yukari squealed back, laughing.

Hitomi laughed as Yukari ran up to inspect the Mystic.

"Only you are allowed to call my bike crap, 'Kari," Hitomi chuckled as Yukari sat down on the motorcycle.

"'Cause I know _so _much about MC's," Yukari agreed. She linked an arm through Hitomi's and they skipped out of the parking lot.

"Hitomi!" Allen yelled as he parked his bike. Unfortunately, someone honked at the same time he yelled so Allen did not succeed in getting Hitomi's attention.

He bristled for a moment as Hitomi and Yukari skipped away. Then he stopped bristling when he registered the fact that Hitomi had come to school on a motorcycle unaccompanied by Fanel.

Hm, so Hitomi had her own motorcycle. When did this happen.

"Great," Allen muttered out loud.

The fact that Hitomi had a motorcycle in itself was not so big. But on closer inspection, the fact that the motorcycle was an Escaflowne brand was something else. Only Hitomi's connections with Escaflowne would enable her to get an Escaflowne. That connection could only be Van Fanel. Which meant that Hitomi was probably more infatuated with Van than ever. Which meant there was very little reason for Hitomi to notice Allen.

"Sometimes I hate my life," Allen said to a passing girl.

Upon realizing that the handsome Allen Schezar was addressing her, the girl giggled in response.

"And why is that?" asked Millerna.

"You know when things just don't go your way?" Allen said. "It's like that."

Then he peered down at Millerna as she giggled. "Well, the company's improving," he added thoughtfully.

After a moment of walking in Millerna's giggling company, Allen began to feel better about the Hitomi crisis.

Noting the newcomer to the school parking lot, Dilandau had walked around to inspect the bike as well as the rider. Seeing that the rider was Hitomi Kanzaki, spitting was the obvious action that Dilandau had to take and he did so. When he had walked far away from the parking lot to his usual place to smoke, Dilandau realized with a poke of regret that spitting was not all he should have done to the bike. What he should have done was spit gum, or maybe a nicely chewed up cigarette. Yeah, a cigarette would be perfect. But he regretted that he hadn't found a sharp rock to throw at the silver motorcycle. A rock sharp enough would have left a very nice and pretty dent on the slick, new surface of the bike. It would also have brought immense satisfaction to Dilandau's pride.

Dilandau still had not forgotten the embarrassment Kanzaki had brought to him that night. Even now, days after the incident, he could feel the scoffing and insulting looks members of his gang were giving him. It was almost too much for Dilandau to bear.

His twin sister Celena had caught Dilandau muttering about plans of revenge against Kanzaki…

_A FEW DAYS AGO_

_"Dilandau, what do you have against this Hitomi Kanzaki?" Celena asked curiously after she had wrestled the story of humiliation from her brother. _

_They sat outside the Schezar house on a bench in the garden. Dilandau had come "just happened to stroll by" and Celena had gleefully dragged her brother among the garden, happy to see her brother and perfectly satisfied to just walk and talk with him. They rarely saw each other outside school. They both treasured any opportunity to just chat._

_"Well?" Celena persisted, elbowing him in his gut._

_Dilandau grinned sarcastically. Only Celena would have the nerve to do such a thing. If any of his gang so much as touched him, he would end up on the ground with sore crutch._

_"I already told you," he said. "Weren't you listening?"_

_"You told me what _happened _but you didn't say _why _you hate her," Celena countered._

_"Isn't it obvious?"_

_"No," Celena replied innocently._

_Dilandau sighed and thought once again how innocent the Schezars had made his sister. That was what came out of living with the posh, he thought._

_"When Hitomi just stood up against me, she insulted me. I couldn't do anything to her sorry. Therefore, the guys started making jokes about me, how I could be beaten by a girl," Dilandau said._

_Celena, who had started to frown, said, "I'm a girl, and I can beat you in an arm wrestle."_

_"That's because I let you win," Dilandau clarified. Before Celena could protest, he continued. "Because of Hitomi Kanzaki, my entire reputation and front are ruined. I can only get it back by beating Hitomi."_

_Shaking her head, Celena looked ashamed. "Dilandau, you're better than that," she said. "It was only your pride she ruined. You're not angry about your reputation. You can get it back any day. You're just telling yourself that it's the reputation she took from you because you don't want to admit that your pride was hurt."_

_"Bullshit," was Dilandau's simple reply. _

_"See, you're in denial," Celena pointed out. She sighed as Dilandau switched out his lighter and began to flick it on and off. _

_"It's so…_immaterial," _she continued. "I mean, why should you care about what others think? You shouldn't be influenced by what your…_gang members," _she said with distaste, "feel about you. It's not as though they know anything."_

_"You're wrong," he said. _

_Celena shook her head once more. "When I have I ever been wrong?" she said._

_Dilandau smiled. "Well there was that time when—"_

_Celena shoved his shoulder playfully. _

_"Just, please, Dilly," she pleaded, using her pet name for Dilandau, "Don't do something horrible to Hitomi. Don't get your revenge, I know what kind of revenge you take, and don't do it," she repeated. "Hitomi is a really sweet girl when you get to know her. You just provoked her so she retaliated against you, that's all. I'm sure you wouldn't really hate her if you knew her underneath it all."_

_"What, as if you do?" Dilandau said sarcastically._

_"Well, I don't talk to her that much," Celena admitted. "But I know her from track, and she's always been friendly to me."_

_"Right," Dilandau muttered disbelievingly._

_"Don't hurt her," Celena said._

_"I'm not promising anything," Dilandau said with a shrug._

_But he stopped flicking his lighter anyway._

At the moment, Celena's pleas did nothing to soothe Dilandau's mood. He of course had no intention to do nothing about Kanzaki. It would make Celena sad, but despite his efforts to avoid Celena's sorrow, Dilandau was determined to get the better of the bitch. That was how much he hated Kanzaki. He'd even risk Celena's wrath to get his revenge.

Celena did not understand. She could never understand Dilandau's world.

What Dilandau _really _wanted to do was burn Kanzaki's new motorcycle. But even Dilandau knew when fire was not the answer. Perhaps he'd stoop to a knife instead. A sharp knife. He could use a knife to slash the tires with until they sagged like paper bags. With a knife, Dilandau could cut up the motorcycle, not necessarily to threads, to a hunk of dents, angles, metal. With just a piece of sharp steel, he could reduce a great a mighty Escaflowne to worthless junk.

It would be so _ironic _too. A knife, his knife, the knife he threatened Kanzaki with and the knife she snatched and slashed her hair with. Dilandau could hardly grasp the amount of joy he would get as he used that same knife to cut up Kanzaki's new motorcycle. It was an _Escaflowne _motorcycle as well. Ha, that was like killing two birds with one stone. He would not only ruin Kanzaki but Fanel too. Van Fanel had always been a dirty bastard in Dilandau's opinion. A jab against him wouldn't be a bad idea at all. Come to think of it, Kanzaki's distress over her poor little motorcycle would undoubtedly cause Allen some distress as well. _Three _birds with one stone!

Dilandau spit out his cigarette and ground it with his shoe. He reached into his pocket and absently flicked it on and off in thought. Yes, when fire doesn't work, stick with a knife. That should be his motto… No doubt Celena would have been horrified to see the way his mind worked when he was angry. Dilandau hated to disappoint Celena and she would be especially angry with him for tempering with Kanzaki.

Oh well. That's how life goes.

**************A/n See? See? Hardly a plot! Well, there was a lot of Dilly's rage… I love Dilandau by the way. I hate to make Dilandau such an evil character, but that's how story writing goes…**

**************Review if you like. I'm going to see if I can update any of my other stories now…**


	11. Burning Irony Personified

Disclaimer: Don't own Vision of Escaflowne nor motorcycles (although that doesn't really have anything to do with the disclaimer.)  


**Chapter 11**

"Is that your boyfriend up there, Hitomi?" said a soft, breathless female voice.

Hitomi looked to the side, saw Van, and, as she was too tired to answer in complete words, grunted in answer. The subject of Van was completely dropped as a series of sighs followed the grunt as Amano Schezar sprinted past them. Yukari sat up and glared at the sighers, who discreetly averted their eyes.

Hitomi and a group of other track athletes, whom she had just recently become loosely friendly with, lazed behind the football post of the Astroturf football field in various positions of exhaustion and weariness (except Yukari, whose exercise only extended as far as running out with cups of water). After a grueling practice that coach insisted on having, all they could do was lie down and watch the boy's varsity track team practice around them as they ran on the track, which ran around the football field.

The football field itself was being used as well by the varsity football team. Because of this, there had been a series of collisions between track athlete and football which was followed by an apologetic football athlete eager to get a close up look at the scantily clad girls in mere sport bras, tank tops, and mini-shorts. Contrary to the football athlete's expectations, this kind of incident did not put him in any kind of favor with the scantily clad girls as they were not only scantily clad girls, but _athletic _scantily clad girls who _really_ needed to concentrate on their jogging as they were being timed. Therefore, they could not return the football athletes' excessive flattery and could not find it in their hearts to enjoy the flattery but distracting attention. It did not help that the coach made them rerun the laps that the football athlete had interrupted.

In short, the girl's track team did not like football players anymore.

"Is that guy grabbing his dick?" pondered a girl.

"He's pointing at it too," observed Hitomi, rising up on an elbow.

"I wonder why?" asked another girl.

"He's trying to imply something I expect."

The football player had a rather suggestive look on his face and raised an eyebrow at the track players.

"You think he's on a steroids?" asked Millerna as she fanned herself in the heat.

"Nah, probably crack," said Yukari.

There was a whooshing sound and a bottle of water suddenly smacked the perverted football player in the head. He was helmeted so unfortunately the bottle did little physical damage. To his pride however, it seemed to have made a permanent dent. He turned to the side and shook a fist with hand and made nasty gestures with the other to a figure sitting in the bleachers.

Hitomi looked over at this figure in the bleachers and grinned. "Good old Van," she commented as the standing Van stuck up his middle finger at the football player and sat back down. Hitomi giggled and added breezily, "that's why I love him," as a collective sigh swept among the girls.

The coach yelled that they could leave. Groaning from sore muscles and legs, they limped back to the locker room.

Hitomi met Van outside the girls locker room as usual and they walked back to the parking lot, fingers entwined. When they approached the parking lot, Hitomi said, "Oh motherfu—"  
.

-- Dilandau had been in an especially dark mood for the rest of the day after spitting on Kanzaki's new bike. He had taken comfort in the thought of destroying the motorcycle and had fallen into a deep state of contemplation and planning, devising what exactly he would do to it and how. His mind took on new paths of thinking. Why should he completely destroy it? He could just rough it up, force Kanzaki to live with a run down bike. In fact, why not etch some words into it? Swear words? Nah, that was such an amateur thing to do. He could write a message on it. _MOUSE _could work, or maybe _HAIRY _or maybe… Then again, Kanzaki could always repair the bike or even exchange it for a new one if it was still in running condition. Yes, Dilandau decided at last, he had to destroy it completely, ruin the engines, rip up the handles, slash the seat, and all that other good stuff.

A small part of his mind did question his violent fixation on Kanzaki. Was it really necessary? It was just as Celena said, the only thing to be avenged was Dilandau's pride, not his reputation. After all, he could just as easily gain back the respect of his gang in a regular old brawl.

Dilandau's dark mood was still dark by the end of the school day, but it was a comforting kind of darkness: the kind that would instantly be repaid in full. Too bad the vice-principal just had to catch him smoking in the hallways and give him after school detention. And Dilandau had been lucky: normally the VP would have suspended him, which was the corporal punishment for bringing cigarettes on campus, perhaps the VP was just distracted. In any case, lucky or not, Dilandau had been detained from blissful revenge by an hour-long detention.

By the time he was released, Dilandau was almost ballistic with the thought that his revenge would have to wait a day more. To his pleasant surprise, Kanzaki's silver motorcycle was still in the parking lot. Unable to contain his pent up rage and pleasure, Dilandau flipped out his knife, dashed over to the bike, and began his work.

It was a miracle that Kanzaki's bike was here at all, so Dilandau wisely decided to deal with the engines first. Clenching his knife, gleefully he made the first slash at the metal over the engines and growled when his knife barely managed to dent the metallic surface, much less puncture it.

Of course. It was an Escaflowne brand after all. Escaflowne Motorcycles produced top quality stuff. It wouldn't be easy to trash up an Escaflowne bike.

"Stupid, stupid," Dilandau growled, landing a sharp kick on the bike with every "stupid." His mood worsened as the kicks did not make any damage at all, they merely left dusty footprints on the surface of the metal. Yes, he was being very stupid. His eagerness made him rash. Right, he had to think this out carefully.

No. To hell with thinking. Kanzaki wasn't worth the effort. No matter how well made the bike was, even an Escaflowne could succumb to brute force if he was strong enough.

Dilandau squatted down in front of the motorcycle and, despite his previous thoughts, contemplated. It was foolish to go for the engines first. With Fanel around, Kanzaki could easily have fixed it. No, Dilandau should have taken care of the tires first. Then the engines would be useless.

Right, down to business.

He repressed his urge to slash wildly and proceeded to business with a set grimness. First he merely brought the edge of blade next to the rubber tire and delicately pressed. The blade sank into the rubber, but it made no scratch. The rubber resisted the blade and bounced back up. Dilandau hissed in frustration but he forced himself to remain calm. Then he started to slice the tire on the same place. Back and forth he sliced until the slicing became sawing. It took a long while for the tire, as it was made to be strong and lasting, but with patience and tolerance, eventually the knife bit into the tire. Smiling in triumph, Dilandau forcefully dragged the blade down the tough tire, creating a long gash. The tire gave a squeak and air squeezed out of the tire until it wilted to the ground.

Dilandau grinned as the motorcycle sank down toward the front. Perfect. One tire down.

His grin vanished as he scanned the parking lot for any onlookers. There was no way Dilandau was going to waste any more time on the remaining tire, but if the tire was so much trouble, how much work would Dilandau have to put on the entire bike?

"Aw shit."

A small voice in his head wondered if satisfying his pride was really worth it. He told that voice to shut the hell up and proceeded back to the task at hand.

Dilandau decided to start destroying the simple things first: parts that were more easily replaceable (than the motors for example) but still damaging to the bike.

The leather seat was easier than the tires. Dilandau merely ran the sharp point of his knife up and down the cushion until he had reduced the leather into black ribbons. He shredded the plushy handles of the bike until the rubber covering hung off the handles in pealing strips. Then Dilandau glanced down at the gas valve and gave it a good kick, denting it to such an angle so that the pipe was bent in half. He slashed at any other small part of the bike he could see. He even ripped up the other tire in his frenzy. When he paused to take a breath, the motorcycle, before shining and sleek, now looked as though it had just gone through a paper shredder. But still, he scrutinized the bike for any small detail that hadn't been touched by his knife yet, Anything he could find before he had to move on to the important bits.

The important bits consisted mostly of the parts that made up of the engine, a bunch of springs and metal and motors and stuff that Dilandau didn't really like to think about at all. He pushed the destruction of those bits last because he wasn't familiar with them, and therefore, he had no idea how to about destroying those bits. For example, if he slashed this bulky-looking metal thing, would that then make _this _part utterly useless? Or would it make the bike explode in his face? What about this bunch of wire? If he cut them, would the whole engine fall apart? What about…

As he stood there, Dilandau pondered how to carry out the next part of his revenge. The steel surrounding the engines looked unbreakable and certainly unslashable. How did one go about slashing up the unslashable? How could one destroy something that one didn't understand? (And since when did he start addressing himself as "one?" This revenge stuff was definitely doing something to his head. He mentally chalked down another reason to hate Kanzaki.)

Experimentally, he pressed his knife down onto the steel surrounding the engine. His knife glanced off. Dilandau then brought down the knife in a vicious slash. He appeared to have made a small scratch, but it proved to be only a patch of dust when he rubbed it with a finger. Frustrated, he kicked the motorcycle with such a force that he knocked the bike over on its side.

"Fuck!"

Dilandau kicked the fallen motorcycle some more. He only stopped when he realized that he was only putting dusty shoe marks on the bike with his kicking. His already burning mood only became charred and crisped.

Goddamnit why did this have to happen to him? Why wasn't his revenge falling through? Why was his outlet for revenge and anger denied to him?

All his thoughts and plans were being turned against him. The irony was almost beautiful. Dilandau had put such faith in his knife, the knife that threatened Kanzaki and slashed off her hair, but now a motorcycle was repelling his knife. Not just any old motorcycle, it had to be an Escaflowne motorcycle, the very best one. Dilandau thought his knife could outdo the best motorcycle, but it couldn't. When Dilandau failed in destroying the motorcycle, he had failed in exacting his revenge on Kanzaki. Without even lifting a finger, Kanzaki had taken away his pride, again.

When he had even started thinking about worthless crap like irony? And using "one" as the subject of a sentence? When had he become so scheming and how did he become so dangerously thoughtful? He was being almost intelligent. (Being intelligent meant thinking about shit like atoms and the meaning of life. He didn't have time for that crap.) Kanzaki wasn't worth the effort of being intelligent! It was mental, absolutely mental. Why had his mind insisted on damaging the motorcycle in the first place? Because it would be satisfyingly ironic with wonderfully subtle complexities, he remembered. (Subtle complexities? What kind of phrase was that? What was he, an English Literature professor?) Dilandau cursed the gods of irony. He didn't need shit like irony running the way his mind worked. He should have just enacted his revenge by beating up Hitomi. Dilandau had no qualms about hitting girls, if anything, he thought they deserved it more than guys did. The way they screamed those high pitched squeals and not lift a fist to defend themselves, it was disgusting. But no, he wanted to do his revenge in the classy way, with _irony_. Fuck, again, when he had become so fixated on irony? He hadn't even been aware that the word was in his personal vocabulary.

Dilandau savagely kicked again, his breaths came in deep, hard gasps. An image of Celena slithered into his mind. He imagined Celena's horrified face and then imagined what she would say about his pitiful revenge. He felt sick with guilt and angry at his guilt. After all, he hadn't given any promise, whatsoever, to Celena about not avenging himself. Damn, he was becoming more and more disgusted with himself.

His hand instinctively reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and he flicked out his lighter. With smooth and easy practice, Dilandau flicked the flame on, and off, on and off…

His gaze wandered down to the shit at his feet. His finger froze at the lighter for a moment, flame tingling and bright. Finger still in place, Dilandau bent down, his face blank and mind numb. His mouth twitched.

Dilandau observantly noticed a dribble of oil leaking out of the motorcycle. He couldn't for the life of him pin point the exact location of the leak but that didn't bother him. Trancelike, Dilandau brought the flame close the dribble of oil and watched as the oil caught a twisting tendril of the flame. He gazed entranced as the flame trickled up the line of liquid oil and smoothly traveled into the leak and into the engines. A corner of his mouth twitched again as the tendril of flame sprouted into a blaze of bright fire.

Calmly, Dilandau stood back as the motorcycle began to shoot out sparks.

Perhaps beating up Kanzaki wouldn't have been the best way to about with revenge.

This was funner.

The part of his mind that seemed to be possessed by ironic shit reminded him that "funner" wasn't a word (it was "more fun," not "funner") and Dilandau mentally repeated it with hyper glee just to piss off that part of his mind.--  
.

"—cker."

"What the hell is that?" Van wondered. "A bonfire?"

Hitomi said nothing. The burning lighter in his hand all but gave Dilandau's identity away to her.

She was beginning to get a sick feeling in her stomach and wanted to leave, get out, escape. She looked around for the Mystic, found it, and closed her eyes.

The Mystic lay in a pit of burning metal and oil. A rubbery stench wafted into the air and smoke swirled up high into the air. Dilandau stood there flicking his lighter on and off, a dark, silver tipped shadow braced against the bright burning of the fire. Over the cackling of the fire, he chuckled manically to himself.

Hitomi could only stare as her motorcycle burned. She heard Van beside her mutter. To him, having been raised around motorcycles, this burning symbolized a terrible sin. She wondered what it was to her.

She felt Van slide an arm around her. Hitomi leaned against him with sudden exhaustion. She vaguely heard Van speaking into his cell phone but she didn't listen.

"I called the police," he whispered in her ear once he snapped the cell phone shut. "They'll be here in a minute."

Hitomi nodded numbly. She walked out of Van's grasp and slowly approached the fire. She stopped next to Dilandau.

"I only had it for one day," she said softly. "I only rode it twice."

Dilandau glanced sideways at her at the sound of her voice, clearing noticing her for the first time. He grinned, baring his teeth to her. Then he began to laugh, his eyes widening with a crazed, manic gleam.

"It's so ironic isn't it?" he cackled. "I'd knife you now but I don't think I need to bother, do I?"

Hitomi balled her fists but crossed her arms to keep herself from lashing out at him. There was a knife by his feet and a lighter in his hand. Dilandau seemed to be in a calm mood, but it was unstable. She had no doubt that he really would draw her blood if he felt like it. It was not a good idea to provoke him.

Hitomi wondered at her own steady calmness. She felt like breaking down into tears at the sight of her burning Mystic. It wasn't just her motorcycle burning away. It was her passion, her childhood dream, and her happiness. When you get down to it, it was just something made of metal manipulated to suit her needs. But it made her happy. Was it just shock preventing the tears from coming? Or was it the rational side of her mind telling her that a hunk of metal wasn't worth crying over? Or both?

Dilandau was watching her. "Don't have anything to say, little mouse?" he said patronizingly. "No? Nothing? I'm disappointed," he said sadly, shaking his head. "This would have felt so much better if you swore at me or something."

"Why?" Hitomi asked softly.

Dilandau laughed. "Then I'd be comforted by the fact that I brought down someone who can cuss as well as me!" he screamed gleefully. "You shouldn't have embarrassed me Hitomi Kanzaki. This is what happens to those who cross me!"

"Cross you?" Hitomi gave a weak laugh. "Oh please. You just don't like it when people defend themselves against you. You hate it when they make it hard to walk all over them. You only want people to lie down before you feet so it's easy for you because you're too weak to _make _them. I wasn't even trying to go against you that night. I just wanted to be free from it all."

Dilandau began to laugh. He laughed as though he had nothing better to do. He laughed because there wasn't anything else he could do. He was still laughing when the police arrived.

Hitomi's feet took herself to the side as the white foam from the fire extinguisher sprayed unto the fire. She watched quietly as the cops left their squad cars and walked toward the teenagers. As Van walked forward to speak with them, Hitomi shifted her glance back to the smoking heap of metal. Vaguely, she wondered what her mother would say when she returned home without her motorcycle. She spent a moment pondering as the world around her melted away.

It seemed like only a moment since the cops had arrived, but when Hitomi glanced back to the people, she found only Van standing over her, a concerned expression on his face. Dilandau and the police had disappeared. The Mystic had stopped smoking.

"What happened?" Hitomi asked, looking around.

"The cops took Dilandau away. I told him that he was the one who caused the fire and damage, but they said they couldn't charge him for that since they had no proof. They could, however, arrest him for possessing a weapon and cigarettes on school grounds," Van explained. "Then Dilandau himself confessed that he did, so…" He shrugged.

"Well," mumbled Hitomi to herself.

Van squatted down so that he was level with Hitomi's face.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

Hitomi was not entirely sure of that herself. Van, of all people, knew what the Mystic meant to her. He knew that it wasn't just a vehicle, or a mode of transportation.

In answer to Van's expecting face, Hitomi shrugged.

"You'll have to take me home then," she said mock-cheerfully.

Van frowned at her change of mood.

"Hitomi," he said, gently taking her arms. "You don't have to be so calm." He lifted one hand from her arm to flick away a stray strand of hair. "Don't hide from me," he said, leaning forward, nose touching hers.

Hitomi looked into Van's soft, caring eyes and sighed. She leaned her forward against his.

"You don't have to be so worried," she reassured him. "Nobody was hurt, only the motorcycle. You got all the insurance taken care of so I don't have to worry about all the damage costs. I won't be stranded at school because I have you here. And it's not as if I had it long enough to become attached to it…" Hitomi's lip quivered. She squeezed her eyes shut and forcefully regained her composure.

"There's nothing worth crying over. It's only a motorcycle," she said. "Nothing to fuss over. Nothing," she repeated.

Van looked sadly at Hitomi. She couldn't actually see the sadness but she felt it when he kissed her.

"What's the matter with you?" she snapped irritably when they broke apart. "I told you, I'm fine! There's no need to be depressed about it."

"Hitomi, I know you. You can't just brush this off, it's impossible," Van whispered.

"Van, it's only a motorcycle. What, do you expect me to cry? It's a motorcycle for god's sake! It's not worth crying over!" Hitomi snapped.

Van sighed and rested a hand in her hair.

"Don't isolate yourself," he said. "What good will it do you? You've already cut your hair away. Just come out."

"Who are you to say that to me?" Hitomi shouted. She tried to pull away but she couldn't shake off Van's firm grasp on her arms. "Just… just leave me alone…"

Van did just the opposite. He drew her into the warmth of his arms, picked her up, and walked toward the Black Escaflowne. Hitomi gripped his leather jacket and cried silently.  
.

A/n. Lookee here I updated! Well, some author's notes... the first part, at the track practice, may seem pointless, and it very well may be, but I had fun writing it, but I did have a some sort of a point. It gives a little insight into Hitomi's social life and improvements. The second part, with Dilandau, was also quite fun to write, and it had a definite point ::collective gasp:: The final part was...hard to write. I guess that was because all my creative juices were squeezed out with Dilandau's inner dialogue... so the final part has sort of a minimalist approach to it, if you can call it that anyway...

Anyway, this fanfic is almost finished! I hesitate to say that it has one chapter left... I hazily remember in an earlier chapter I had said it was almost done (but then I went on to write more chapters, so apparently I had lied). This time it's definitely near The End. I think just one more chapter, but don't hold me to it...

Reviews are appreciated.


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